


A Working Holiday

by AstridArrowood



Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Character Study, Comedy, Cottagecore, Domestic, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Resolved Sexual Tension, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sexuality Crisis, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Turkcentric, Turkfic, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24169999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridArrowood/pseuds/AstridArrowood
Summary: Reno and Rude are left stranded in the middle of nowhere after yet another brush with death. They end up in a peaceful, isolated village in the Wutai region, penniless, injured and with no way to contact home. What are they to do next?
Relationships: Reno & Rude (Compilation of FFVII), Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII)
Comments: 139
Kudos: 203





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At the moment, this is set at a non-specific point in the timeline. Easiest to imagine it's taking place later during the Crisis Core years, I imagine, but it's up to you. I'm having a lot of fun writing this, but be warned it is a work in progress so updates may be VERY irregular. I'm so bad with multi-chaptered fics, but I will try my very best! Rating is also currently planned to increase, but no solid promises on that front either. 
> 
> Please do leave a comment if you enjoy it, I really do appreciate them. Thoughts, comments and discussion about these two are always welcome. Apologies if the British spelling is jarring to anyone.
> 
> Finally, as a heads up, if you haven't already, check out @aitaikimochi on Twitter, she uploads some GREAT canon R/R content from the games and Ultimania Guides.

Later Reno would say they had swerved to avoid hitting a Bandersnatch, then it was a stampede of panicked Elfadunks that ran into them, and then he said they’d been battered by a furious Behemoth that rampaged down the dusty highway. Truthfully, neither of them would ever really remember what happened, or perhaps they just hadn’t seen it coming at the time. It could easily have been a beast, or a Wutai rebel force, or Reno’s shitty, reckless driving in the slippery terrain after the rainstorm earlier that morning. Either way they had been brutally thrown off of the road somewhere in the Wutai region after a short and simple recon assignment. 

While the details of the incident would remain forever fuzzy to them both, what they did remember was the endless tumbling and rolling as the car overturned down a muddy hill again and again. They would remember shouting, pain, the smell of fuel and the taste of blood until finally blackness. 

When Reno came to, they were upside down. His eyes snapped open and he gasped harshly looking this way and that until his disoriented vision began to clear. 

“What, _Rude_ , what the _fuck_?” he panted desperately as he fought the urge to pass out again. He swore repeatedly under his breath and tried to get his bearings. What happened, he asked himself panickedly. Were they attacked? He didn’t feel any pain, but he could see there was blood all over his hands and shirt. It didn’t matter right now, he told himself determinedly. As long as he could move all his fingers and toes he didn’t have the luxury to wonder about anything else, and thanked the adrenaline for its service instead. 

“Rude,” he groaned, wrestling with his seatbelt and looking to his partner in the passenger seat. He was unconscious. At least, Reno hoped that was all it was. There was a lot of blood spattered over the car. He swallowed and reached over with a shaking hand to check Rude's throat for a pulse, smearing blood over his skin as he did. There was a growing smell of smoke, and he was distantly aware of the familiar crackle of flames. He waited, trying to calm himself enough to concentrate on what he could feel with his fingertips. 

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, man. Don’t do this to me,” he whispered, pressing his hand hard to various points on Rude’s neck. Finally, with a moan of relief, he felt the fluttering of a steady heartbeat. “Rude, Rude, wake up, man.” He awkwardly slapped him and shook him by the shoulder. “Hey, asshole! Wake up!” he shouted again. Rude's face twitched and slowly began to animate.

“Reno?” he mumbled, blinking slowly. 

“Rude! Thank _fuck_! We were ran off the road. We’re upside down and trapped in the car. Can you move?” 

Rude unquestioningly took stock of himself, flexing his hands and wriggling around as much as he could. 

“Y-yeah, think I'm...good. You?”

Reno managed to wrangle his seatbelt undone and he hit the roof of the car with a thud. 

“Yeah. Car’s smoked, though. We gotta get out, now!” He scrambled with the door handle, while Rude, in a daze, clumsily pawed at his seatbelt. The doors were jammed tight. Coughing hard as the smoke thickened, Reno wasted no time in maneuvering himself around and kicking in the already cracked front window. He realised he only had one shoe on.

“Are you kidding me?” he ground out through his teeth as the glass shattered completely under his boot. The smoke clogged his throat as he kept kicking to clear away the shards of glass that hindered their escape. Satisfied, he protected his head and face as he shimmied out, bits of glass cutting his hands and knees.

He raced to his feet just in time to yank a still bewildered Rude roughly out of the window. Rude was probably concussed, Reno noted. He was having trouble orienting himself and seemed confused. He had a pretty nasty looking cut on his head. Their panting became frantic as the smoke grew opaque and blacker around them and they struggled to get an unencumbered breath.

“Move, move quick!” he shouted and took Rude's substantial weight over his shoulder to propel them both away from the burning car faster. After a good several metres, gasping and spluttering, he slipped and fell down into the mud, taking Rude with him.

Reno rolled away from underneath him, and leapt upright to drag Rude the final few metres to safety. He got barely a pace further when a massive explosion erupted from the car as the fuel tank finally caught alight. Blown off his feet, with no other option, Reno crawled over Rude’s prostrate body, protecting him with his own as various flaming bits of debris flew overhead. He breathed hard, coughing helplessly into Rude’s neck whilst he waited for more destruction to follow. When it seemed clear enough, only the smoke and fire to contend with, Reno sat back up and looked down at Rude. His face was contorted in pain, and his breathing was laboured. 

“I got you,” he said hoarsely. He helped Rude slowly onto his feet and walked him to a safer spot further away from the smoke. He was really out of it, Reno noticed. It worried him.

“Just sit your ass there for a minute, Rude. I’m going to see if there’s anything we can salvage. Don’t move, okay, partner?” 

Rude nodded silently, holding his head in his hands. 

Covering his mouth and nose with his jacket, the first thing Reno searched was for medicines. He wasn’t a gifted Materia user, so he usually carried a healthy stock of pharmacy items whenever he travelled. They were crafted to withstand a lot of hustle and bustle so there was a strong chance they were lying around still intact. He hurriedly searched around the burning car, ducking away from the occasional flare of flames, and stepping over odd bits of debris. Fortunately, he managed to gather a few bottles of various usefulness scattered around. He returned back to Rude immediately and helped him glug down a couple of them. It always sickened Reno a little to watch them do their instantaneous healing work on open wounds.  
  
“Feeling alright?” he asked.

Rude nodded again. “Thanks,” he said weakly.

“Stay here.”

It might have been optimistic to look for a surviving cellphone next, but he did it anyway. Prectidably, no dice. Although he did find more medicine that had survived being hurtled from the explosion. Every cloud, he thought. He also came upon the charred car dangle he’d had hanging from the rearview mirror. It was a couple of little Cactuars. It had been a gift from Rude so he pocketed it and that was the last of the loot. All of their clothes, Reno’s other shoe, their emergency radios, any food or water they had was all lost in the fire. Perhaps the most devastating was the loss of his EMR, which he’d left in the dashboard compartment. There was no retrieving that now. Being weaponless in the open with an injured partner was not ideal. He cursed out loud and kicked a piece of debris near his booted foot. 

This time when Reno returned from the car’s remains, Rude was watching him with clear eyes. 

“Hey,” he said. 

“Hi,” Reno replied and sat down beside him with a hard wince. Something sure did hurt now. “I’m fine,” he said before Rude could ask.

“You’re covered in blood.”

“Yeah,” he sneered. “It’s wild, I don’t even know where it’s coming from.”

“That’s not a good thing.” 

Rude passed him one of the other heavy-duty medicine bottles which Reno took. Together they sat in relative silence watching the car engulfed in flames and passing the acrid healing drink back and forth between them, occasionally grunting as their wounds knitted themselves closed. 

“What happened?” Rude finally asked, after the last of it was drunk. 

“I don't fucking know.” Reno threw the empty bottle into the flames.

Rude sighed. 

“I think it was a Bandersnatch.”

“A Bandersnatch?”

“I don't fucking know, man.”

Rude hummed. “Don't suppose you've-”

“Nope. No phone. No money. No fucking shoe.” He yelled wordlessly to the sky. “We are so fucked.”

“Great.” A pause. “What's that smell?”

“It’s us. We’re sitting in Elfadunk shit.”

“Good start to the day.”

“We drove past a town about six miles or so back. There’s no way the signal in the car is working, so we should head there, find a phone and call Tseng. I hope we don’t come by any monsters out here because my EMR is charcoal.”

“We can handle it, and at least it’s not raining anymore.” 

“Yeah, because walking six miles in the baking heat covered in shit is going to end up real well for us.”

“Not with that attitude.” Rude stood up, and offered Reno his hand. Reno took it with a sigh.

“Let’s do this, then,” he said as Rude heaved him upwards. 

With that they began their limping, arduous journey to the last town Reno could remember seeing. Between the humidity, their (now minor) injuries and the stench emanating from the both of them, it was an unpleasant almost three hours as they trudged slowly onwards. Reno made a head covering out of his jacket as the sun grew higher, and the skin on his arms reddened. Reno was not a man who enjoyed the sunshine, he liked his daylight artificial and not searing into his skin. Rude was the opposite, he could spend hours in the sun, happily absorbing its rays like a damn plant, even without his sunglasses like he was now. Reno shot him a glance from under his makeshift sunhat. The freckles peppered on Rude’s dark skin were becoming very pronounced and if Reno had the energy he would've teased him about it. 

“You look ridiculous,” Rude said, catching his eyes on him.

Reno looked away, his face hot. “Ah, shut up, asshole.”

The ‘town’ as Reno had called it was really more of a local farming village, Rude realised as they approached. It was quaint, lush and green, but practically devoid of people going about their day. There were more chickens pecking at the pebbles than villagers, he thought. The rolling hills of paddies and orchards far into the distance were probably where most of them worked until dusk. Aside from homes, few shops, maybe a town hall, a doctor’s office and a bar would be the most they could possibly hope for here. Small town living was more familiar to him than it would be to Reno who grew up in Midgar. He would probably hate it, Rude thought. However if Rude had been less focused on their current dilemma, he would have remarked on its peacefulness. 

A couple of gossiping older ladies gasped upon noticing them and warily backed away from them into the shade.

“I guess we’re the boogeymen,” Reno drawled.

Rude called out to white-bearded man in a rocking chair nearby. “Hello. You know where we can make a phone call, sir? We were just in a car accident.”

“Oh, my!” He sat up and put on a pair of spectacles to peer at them. “You boys are out of luck. Phones don’t ever work around here no more, not properly anyway, not since the War. We gave up on them sorting us out a long time ago.”

“Perfect,” Rude sighed.  
  
“Are you both okay?”

“Just peachy,” Reno said acidly. 

“Well, okay...You know, you should visit The Watery Grave. It's the bar in town. They do have a phone, it sometimes has service there. It’s usually only for emergencies, but well...” He pointed down the path. “Five minute walk.” 

“Thank you,” Rude said. 

The Watery Grave bar was garishly yet appropriately decorated for the rundown, forgotten village. It was all bright colours, mismatching ornaments, peculiar posters, and neon signs that had half-stopped glowing probably years ago and instead flickered distractingly. The frankly medieval looking jukebox in the corner played thin, trilling music quietly while the relaxed chatter of the handful of drinking patrons sounded over it. Regardless, it was warm, welcoming and the smell of sauces and meats being cooked in the kitchen were mouth-watering. Reno’s stomach growled. He couldn’t remember the last time they had eaten. 

They both had the grace to look embarrassed as they walked by a table of drinking men. They jerked as they passed and pulled faces, holding hands over their noses. Reno didn’t blame them. He could smell himself and it sure wasn’t pretty. If someone offered him a million gil, a shower or a plate of noodles at that very moment, Reno honestly wasn’t sure which he would pick. 

There was a single man working behind the bar. Under his bushy moustache he had a tired, weather-beaten kind of face that you’d normally see on sailors and short, salt-and-pepper hair slicked back over an obvious bald patch. 

"Hey, barkeep,” Reno called as they approached. “We gotta use your phone, man."

The man looked them both up and down, and sniffed - an action he clearly regretted as Reno leaned on the wooden bar. Hiding his distaste for them both poorly, the man pulled himself to his full height. "Oh yeah? Who’re you planning on calling?" he asked.

"How is that your business, you old codge-" Rude kicked him in the calf from behind. Reno snapped his attention back to him. “What?” he hissed. 

“How about...be nice,” Rude cautioned lowly. Reno scowled at him and rolled his eyes. 

Tucking his dust stained jacket over an arm, he sucked his teeth and smiled a smile that no doubt came across more menacing than it did friendly if the barkeep’s reaction was anything to go by. "I mean, uh, kind _sir_ ," he rectified in a honeyed tone that fooled no one. "We two out of luck gentlemen would like to use the phone of this fine establishment to call our _upstanding_ employers in Midgar to come and rescue us from this backwater shitstain of a town."

"Nice," Rude said quietly so that only Reno could hear. “Nailed it.” 

The barkeep blinked slowly at him, clearly unimpressed. “What did you just say, jackass?”

Rude stepped forward. “Ignore him,” he said and pushed Reno out of the way none-too-gently. “Look, we’re stranded. We got hit by Elfadunks or...something.”

“It was a Behemoth,” Reno said. 

Rude talked over him. “Our car is burned to a crisp, we got thrown off the road and everything we had is toast with it. We just need to make a quick call to get picked up, and we’ll be on our…” he sneaked a quick glance at Reno who looked like a cat that had been pulled backwards through a hedge by its tail. “On our...merry way.”

The barkeep scoffed disbelievingly, but seemed more amenable to Rude than he had to Reno. 

"Midgar? Hell, no way. That's a long distance call, you know? Do you know how much that would cost me?”

“How much?” Rude already suspected he knew where this was going.

“Well,” the barkeep said, stroking his moustache in faux deep thought. “400 gil. Actually, 500 for your mouthy friend. Upfront.”  
  
Rude ground his teeth and looked at Reno who sighed exasperatedly as if this wasn't his fault. They didn't have two gil to rub together nevermind 500. 

"Look, man,” Reno said, stepping back in and smirking cockily. “Maybe I wasn't being too clear before. We're Shinra _Turks_ , okay, _pal_? Trust me, when I say you don't want to piss us off."

The barkeep’s eyes widened and he gasped in mock excitement. “Oh, is that right? Well, I'm the lead actor at the Golden Saucer. Charmed, I'm sure. Would you like my autograph, Red?” 

Reno looked apoplectic. “Is that sar - Rude.” He turned to face him. “Was that sarcasm? Do we have a _funny man_ on our hands?”

“Yeah, I think we do,” he said, playing along. 

“I think this guy is trying to be funny with us,” he turned back to the barman. “Are you a funny man _, guy_?”

“I've had no complaints.” Before Reno could reach across the bar and throttle him, he continued, holding a hand on the pistol at his waist. “Look, bozos, even if I were inclined to help out Shinra, which I _ain’t_ , you two sure as hell don’t look like Shinra. You come in here looking like two stinking, violent drifters with some kooky Elfadunk tale demanding a free long-distance call? You got any proof? ID?”

Reno knew he didn't have anything bar the shirt on his back. Hoping, he looked to Rude from the corner of his eye. Rude coughed and looked away. That was a no, then. 

The barkeep smirked. "That's what I thought. Whoever you are, Red, a phone call is 500 gil so either cough up, or take your scrawny ass and your big lug of a boyfriend out of here."

"Scrawny?"

"Big lug?" 

The barkeep pointed to the door in a way that signalled the conversation was over. Save from pummeling the guy to death, which frankly seemed a little extreme for a phone call even for him, Reno didn't see any other choice but to leave. He kicked the bar with his single boot to make clear his displeasure on his way out though. 

“We'll be back, funny man,” he spat.

“Looking forward to it.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rejected from the bar, and with no way to contact home. Reno and Rude figure out their next steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hah, I did it! A second chapter! It just kept getting longer and longer and honestly, I was starting to get tired of reading it over and over again each time I added something new. I really enjoyed writing from Rude's POV this time around though. I really hope you caught all the little R&R hints that show how Rude pines in his own, equally oblivious way. As always comments, thoughts and discussion on these two are my lifeblood. I also made a fandom Twitter account. I have exactly 1 follower, the lovely MadManta. So you can find [me there too @AstridArrowood](https://twitter.com/AstridArrowood).

Rude followed Reno back outside into the unforgiving sun that shone overhead. The shabby, creaking batwing doors of The Watery Grave swung behind them as if shooing them out. Reno, clearly reaching his wits end, started to swear irritably under his breath about the ‘backwards craphole of a town’ they’d found themselves in. Rude watched on tiredly, saying nothing even when Reno stepped on a pointed rock with his shoeless foot, which consequently unleashed a new, much louder tirade of bitter cursing.

Rude sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He tried not to let his weariness get the better of him as he replayed the bartender's mocking unhelpfulness in his mind, but it was difficult. Their day had gone from fairly bad to nobody-will-believe-this levels of awful, and now they were stuck in a hopeless situation. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no food, no shelter, no means of contacting home and not a gil between them. What worried him more was that Rude knew in the back of his mind they would have to rely on the kindness of strangers to help get them out of this mess. Rude wasn’t a foolish man. He didn’t believe in kind strangers, at least not ones that would stoop to help the likes of himself and Reno. With a deep, calming breath he resigned himself to the fact that there was nothing much to be done about the long term problem of how they would get home for now, and decided he should focus on the short term instead: they stunk, they needed to rest and Reno needed a shoe. Smaller obstacles would be easier to overcome first.

“What’re you thinking, partner?” Reno asked him, finally finished whining about his foot. “Thinking about going back in there to crack some skulls?” He palmed his fist with a slap.

Rude shook his head.

“Eh, just as well.” Reno shrugged. “It’s way too hot for skull cracking.”

"You'll get your scrawny ass burned if you stay outside here much longer,” Rude said, mimicking the barkeep in a half-hearted attempt to inject some humour into the situation.

"Thanks,” Reno drawled scathingly. “Big lug.” He paused. “You know, that’s not a bad nickna-”

“No, thank you,” Rude said sternly.

Reno smirked, mischief dancing in his eyes. Rude frowned at him.

They walked in the opposite direction of the bar until they found a secluded spot to sit down under the shade of some trees. Reno wiped the sweat off his brow and laid back on the grass using his dirty jacket as a pillow, his socked foot resting high over his knee. Rude sat back against the trunk, loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his dark shirt. He wished to himself that he had a pair of sunglasses. He felt exposed without them, not to mention they were prescription lenses too. It was only a light one, but he was getting a headache nonetheless. The stress of the morning was catching up on them both, he realised. They would have to come up with some kind of a plan before nightfall or they'd be fighting over Reno's soiled jacket to sleep under.

500 gil, he wondered how they could get that much, and fast, around here. In Midgar you could earn that much fairly quickly doing odd jobs. When Rude had bounced clubs it would've taken a couple of nights, especially if he sold anything dodgy he’d confiscated. He looked at their surroundings, thinking. There were no clubs around here, that was for sure.

“They’ll go looking for us eventually, won’t they?” asked Reno drowsily.

“Yeah, they will. They’ll send some idiot who _eventually_ finds the car, and tells Tseng we’re dead.”   
  
“Then...Tseng will send someone to investigate properly and that person will _eventually_ discover there’s no human bone remains.”   
  
“Then they’ll _eventually_ come here searching.”

“Or they’ll think we’ve defected and look far away.”

“Or that we’ve been kidnapped and start interrogating Wutai forces.”   
  
Reno let loose a bark of laughter. “As if anyone could kidnap a _Turk_. But what you’re telling me is that it could actually take weeks for Tseng to actually find us _here_. So. Square one.” Reno lay back down again with a sigh.

Rude’s eyes felt heavy, his body weary. He caught himself lightly dozing when a pleasant breeze blew through the trees, teasing the skin on his arms. Beside him, Reno moaned. “That’s nice. No, come back,” he called as the gentle gust eased. “I tell you, man. I don’t know how you could’ve lived in heat like this.”

Rude didn’t answer. He looked around again. He didn’t talk about his hometown or his past life very much, even to Reno. This village seemed underdeveloped in comparison to the staggering metropolis of Midgar, but it really wasn’t so different from where Rude had grown up. By day, the outer territories of Mideel were bustling, beautifully warm even when it rained, full of happy people dressed in light linens who lived off the land they worked, and the air was always sweet with fruity and flowery smells. His boyhood was a nice memory, though of course, it hadn’t lasted. Why else would he have left it? Midgar on the other hand got most of its daylight from eerie lamps, it was cold even when it wasn’t, the people were angry and selfish, and it smelled like a ripe trashcan most of the time. Rude took a deep breath of the fresh air, he didn't miss the smoky, cloying and metallic air of Midgar for even a second. Reno might have been a city boy through and through, but Rude would always be a mother nature kind of guy, to a point at least.

“So, all we need to do is get 500 gil, right?” Reno mumbled, breaking Rude from his thoughts. “500 gil, we call Tseng, he comes and gets us. Simple, right?”

“Right.”

“So? We steal it! Should be child’s play around here, man. Look at these unsuspecting doughballs. They wouldn’t see it coming if I gave them a ‘how do you do’ first. I bet there's a store or some snoozing, old grandpa we can steal from. Better in our pockets, than theirs, right?”

Rude pulled a face at him. It wasn't that Rude was a stranger to the unsavoury, far from it, but Reno had a wicked way with words that made an unpleasant task seem more malicious than it already did.

Rude watched a mother with her two young sons trailing behind her. They pulled at her long, thin skirts, kicked at the dust in their tattered sandals and pouted about something she had clearly scolded them over. The people weren’t _rich_ here, he noted. Quite the opposite, really. This wasn’t the kind of place that would see modern development or technological improvements any time soon, either. It was all probably due to fallout from the War, rural areas were either forgotten or utilised. Clearly, the former was the case here. The buildings were dilapidated, the shops were missing letters from their signs, and the people didn’t seem to concern themselves with frivolous things. Rude thought of his extravagant, well-appointed apartment back in Midgar, his snappy suits and vintage record collection, and the thought of stealing money from the village folk seemed crude to him.

“Or, we could work for it?” he suggested.

Reno bolted upright. “Oh, come on. Don’t get a conscience on me now, partner.” He grabbed Rude's bicep tight as a vice. “What, you wanna pick potatoes from trees? Wash dishes? Mow someone’s la-”

“Potatoes don’t grow on trees.”

“What?”

“Potatoes don’t grow on trees,” Rude said matter-of-factly. There was a pause. “You know that, right?”

Reno looked at him with narrowed, blue eyes, obviously trying to work out if Rude was kidding or not. Rude stayed still and tried very hard not to give it away. Reno’s full lips pursed in clueless suspicion until Rude couldn’t hold it in anymore and one small huff of laughter escaped him.

“Hah, I knew it! _You_ ,” he thrust a finger into Rude’s chest. “Are a shitty liar, man. I don’t even know why you bother.”

Rude shook his head at him. He didn't have it in him to tell Reno he wasn't lying. He knew he would look it up the minute he got his hands on a phone. City idiot, he thought fondly.

“Look, whatever,” Reno said, waving his hand lazily. “Do you even know how much washing dishes pays? We could be stuck here for weeks. Longer, even.”

Rude thought about it. “Could be worse. How long has it been since we took a vacation?” He smirked as Reno gaped at him like an angry fish. “Think about it. There’s bound to be monsters around these parts giving these people trouble. We could do a little mercenary work. We could get the money we need in a week easily.”

Reno snapped his mouth shut and hummed, considering.

“Even if we do end up needing to steal,” Rude continued. “We won’t be able to sneak so much as a gil from a coma patient sticking out like sore thumbs and smelling like a gym bag pulled out from the sewer. We need to find shelter for the night, a _shower_ , and shoes for you first, then we can decide.”

Reno laughed slyly and wiggled his exposed toe. “You make a good point. Okay, you’ve convinced me. For _now_.”

Rude stood up and brushed off his clothes, feeling slightly more energetic. He knew Reno would choose to indulge him. Despite the overall inconvenience, he knew Reno liked it when Rude thought outside-the-box. Stealing would be too easy for him, and Reno liked to have a good story to tell more than anything.

It took no time at all to be pointed towards the local inn by a couple of women working at the general store. They played with their hair nervously and stared at them while they gestured down the street and mumbled directions. Rude thanked them, and the moment their backs were turned, the unmistakable sound of giggling followed them as they left. Reno’s mouth twisted.

“Sure, laugh it up, ladies,” he muttered. “But I still managed to get these from right under your noses.” He held up two fat, red apples and handed one to Rude.

“So much for not stealing.”

“I’m just warming up,” he said, his eyes gleaming.

Rude smiled and bit into it once they were out of eyeshot. It was delicious.

Calling the village’s only inn run-down would have been polite, Rude thought. The outside of the brick building was painted a sunny yellow that had faded a long time ago and was now covered with an array of stains and the odd bit of graffiti. The few green window shutters that remained semi-attached were tarnished, dusty and full of spiderwebs. There was a broken window in the attic and a handful of dying potted plants scattered in the walkway. It didn’t bode well for the interior, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, and they would literally have to beg in this instance.

Reno was usually the chatty one, but after the trouble at the bar he insisted Rude do the talking this time around. After knocking lightly at the door, he entered. For all of its lack of sophistication outside, the inside of the inn smelled pleasant and not like stale mothballs as he’d anticipated. It was neat, tidy with a few photos on the walls and a sleeping tabby cat on the wooden reception desk. To the left, near the stairs, a plump woman was balancing on a ladder as she reached for the ceiling, a lightbulb in her pudgy hand.

“Just,” she said as she strained her short arms. “Just a moment!”

She overstretched and, with a little yelp, she began to tip to the side as the ladder toppled off-balance. Before Rude even registered what was happening Reno had shot forwards, and forcefully grappled the ladder back upright. Even after all their time together, Reno's speed still sometimes surprised him.

“My goodness,” she breathed, wobbling this way and that. “Thank you, young man. That gave me quite the fright.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Reno.

The woman exhaled loudly and slowly eased down off the ladder, still clutching the lightbulb she'd meant to replace.

“Allow me,” said Reno and plucked it from her hand. Rude imagined that Reno thought himself quite charming to the older lady. But in reality with his messy hair, stained clothes and overpowering smell that still emanated from them both, she was probably horrified by him. She backed away with a bewildered look on her face as Reno righted the ladder and climbed up.

“I...uh,” she began. “Who-”

“Hello,” said Rude. “That’s my partner, Reno. My name is Rude. We were in a car accident about six miles from here.”

“Oh, I see.” She looked him up and down. “I see, indeed. I’m Luna. I own the place.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

While Reno changed the lightbulb, Rude launched into their story as best he could. He explained to her how they’d ended up stranded, what had happened to all of their things, and that they needed to find some work to afford the phone call to Midgar so they could get home.  
  
Luna touched the top of her tightly tied bun a few times. “Cyrus wouldn’t let you use the phone? Well, no surprise there then.”

“Really, we just don’t want our families to assume the worst,” he finished solemnly and coughed to cover up Reno’s sniggering.

She hummed sympathetically.

“Tell you what,” she said to Rude as Reno handed her the dead lightbulb. “There’s some Wererats in the basement and attic that're giving me hellish problems recently. If you take care of them,” she said looking at them dubiously. “Well...you can have a room upstairs until you sort yourselves out. One room though. It's my busy season, after all.”

“Done.” Rude had the good manners not to point out that the inn probably hadn’t had a busy season in a few years.

“Oh, honey.” She pointed to Reno. “You’re only wearing one shoe.”

Reno looked down at his foot and gasped. “Well, I say,” he said. “Gosh darn it _all_.” Rude fought the urge to roll his eyes at him. They’d finally gotten something checked off their list, he’d strangle Reno if his sass ruined it for them now.

“There’s a lost and found box in the basement,” Luna said, apparently oblivious to Reno's sarcasm. “Help yourself, ain't nobody coming back for those old things now.”

“Thank you. We’ll take care of those Wererats right away.”

Luna waved her hand at them dismissively as though she expected them to turn tail and flee the moment they could.

They tackled the attic first where they found a large nest of young Wererats making havoc. They might have been smaller than the average Midgar Wererat but they still had the potential to be dangerous; they were fierce, angry with razor sharp teeth and inch long claws.

Nevertheless pummeling the beasts was an easy job for them, even in their weakened, tired state and three shoes between them. Rude didn’t particularly relish choking vermin but it did give him a rare chance to see Reno fight with his hands as he was without his EMR. It wasn’t that it was startling to see Reno use his fists, it was actually one of the ways he fought when they’d first met. Though, admittedly, it had been more of street brawl style than anything with actual finesse. Early in their partnership Rude had actually trained him personally in advanced hand-to-hand combat before Reno had finally found his true calling in his lightning speed, flashy moves, and baton twirling as Rude was fond of calling it when he wanted a reaction.

However, nowadays it was very unusual to see Reno fight like this. Reno wasn’t a naturally gifted martial artist. Though he was scrappy and quick, he couldn't stay guarded or calm, and most of all, he didn’t like getting his literal hands dirty. Even so, he was still a formidable opponent; strong, fast and unrelenting. It actually gave Rude a strange little thrill to see Reno use moves he had taught him years ago, though he was obviously out of practice, he noticed. He was a little clumsy and graceless where he usually appeared sleek and vicious fighting with his EMR attached to him as an extension of his arm.

“Will you quit staring at me and help?” Reno groused, his face flushing with exertion. “I know I’m rusty.”

“Only a little,” Rude said, unable to keep the warmth from his voice as was often the case when he teased Reno. He grappled another Wererat, breaking its neck swiftly. “We haven’t done hand-to-hand training together in a while.”

“Because I was a sore loser everytime you kicked my ass.”

“You’re a lot faster now.”

“That’s true. I am the fastest Turk of all time.”

“Then we’ll start training again when we get home.”

Reno groaned. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

“Too late,” he said with a smirk.

“No rest for the wicked, I guess,” Reno growled under his breath.

Clearing the attic was easy enough, but as there had been a lot more Wererats than they’d anticipated, they didn’t waste any time resting before they went down to the basement of the inn. The sooner they got this over with, the better, Rude thought as he wiped the sweat from the back of his neck.

Contrary to the airy attic, the basement was dusty, fetid and it reeked of something sour. As they entered the room Rude reached out into the darkness looking for a lightswitch. Finally he pulled at a cord and the lights turned on, flickering rapidly as the buzz of them powering up filled the room.

They could hardly see a thing in the intermittent orange glow, but there was the unmistakable sound of wretched claws scratching against the wooden floor as something skittered across it. Suddenly there was a snarl followed by a scatter of assorted objects cascading from a pile at the back of the room.

They turned.

“Woah, woah, woah, Rude.”

It was a huge Wererat, easily four foot tall, looking at them with rage in its beady eyes. A thick trail of drool poured from a mouth full of finger-length yellow teeth and, in an instant, it leapt with a roar for Reno’s throat, bowling him over with its strength and weight. Reno yelled and struggled to choke it back as it gnashed gleefully for his flesh. As quick as he could, Rude grabbed a handful of its coarse, brown fur and easily scissor kicked it across the room so it bounced its empty skull off the wall. Dazed and winded, it barked as it heaved for air. Rude took the opportunity and sucker punched it again and again, as it gasped its foul, bloodied breath in his face. Reno, back on his feet, darted behind it and held it by the jaw, twisting it with all his strength. Finally, it broke with an almighty snap and the Wererat dropped like a sack of rocks to the floor. In the silence of the aftermath they panted, shaking with the adrenaline.

“Hoo boy,” said Reno. “They grow them big out here. Thanks for saving my ass.”

“Did it get you?” Rude asked, noticing the blood on Reno’s throat. Concerned and without thinking he wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in close to inspect the injury. He smeared away the blood carefully with his thumb. Reno tensed under the touch, looking up at him with a cold, unreadable expression. “Hm. Just a nasty scratch,” Rude said. He concentrated and brought forth a little curing magic to take care of it. Feeling it do its delicate work, Reno’s hands jerked as if he didn’t know where to place them, and his expression flickered. Once Rude was satisfied it was done, he let his hand drop.

“Yeah, thanks. Takes more than that to get a Turk, huh.” Reno swallowed, touching the mark himself gently after to check. Rude nodded.

Luna was awfully impressed when they came back downstairs to let her know the problem was taken care of. After she verified it herself, she thanked them profusely and apologised for doubting their abilities. She gave them two keys, one for the bathroom and another for the bedroom they’d be sharing. She told them the hot water was on and promised them a hot meal after they stopped smelling ‘ _like that_ ’. Reno looked like he could have kissed her on the mouth, he was so pleased.

“I call dibs,” he said and raced upstairs with the bathroom key before Rude could argue.

“Don’t use all the hot water,” he chided him while he was still within earshot.

He knew good and well that Reno would take forever in there. So, with some time to kill, Rude helped Luna dispose of the stinking Wererat carcasses before once again venturing back down to the basement to raid the lost and found box.

When he eventually unearthed it, Rude was so tired that he was starting to see two of everything. The lost and found box was really more of a lost and found trunk apparently. From the bizarrely dated ensembles he dug out, he could tell that it had never been emptied. With a frown Rude pulled out a few bundles of clothes, the best of a bad bunch. He figured they just needed something to eat and sleep in for now, they could come back down in the morning to go through it again.

First of all, he found a pair of old black boots. They were a size too big for Reno and didn’t smell too pretty, but it was the only thing he could see working unless he could convince Reno to run about in flip flops. He didn’t see that happening, so he put the boots neatly to one side and discarded the flip flops. Next he found two sets of serviceable sweatpants, a little big for Reno and a little tight for Rude respectively. After that, he pulled out an old grey t-shirt that would work for himself, while the choice for Reno was either a pink t-shirt with a cartoon horse, or a plain black one. Thinking about the chilly shower that no doubt awaited him, he put the black t-shirt back into the box and tucked it away at the very bottom, a smirk on his face.

By the time Rude returned upstairs, he was practically dragging his feet. He hadn’t been able to tell while he’d been in the basement, but it was sunset already. Outside the bathroom, the sound of running water had stopped. He tapped lightly on the door.

“Reno, I've got some clothes.”

“Cool, come in.”

He opened the door, the warm, refreshing steam hitting him in the face immediately. Reno was facing the large mirror on the wall, combing out his soaking, long, red hair. With only a towel wrapped around his slim hips Rude could see clearly the toned strength of Reno’s back and arms. He was lean, well-muscled and very pale, though his skin was littered with bruises from the day. Water from his hair slid a slow path down his skin. Rude averted his eyes and cleared his throat.

“Here,” Rude said and placed down the pile of things he’d picked out for him. “I figured this’ll do for tonight.”  
  
“Thanks, man. Shower’s all yours. Oh, and Luna gave us some stuff,” he said, pointing to a small toiletry kit. “Though I don’t imagine you’ll need the comb.” He grinned at his own poor joke.

“Comedy gold,” Rude said, barely stifling a yawn. “Any hot water left?”

Reno nodded and bent over to wring out his hair in the sink.

“Well, I’m not waiting for you to finish your grooming regimen. I’ve got Wererat guts in my ears.”

Reno shrugged, popping a toothbrush into his mouth.

Rude and Reno had shared locker rooms enough times that he didn’t care at all about undressing in front of him. As he did so, Rude was very aware of how much he and his clothes stank now that he could smell the clean scent of soap. Reno had gone back to taking his sweet time fiddling with his hair when Rude climbed into the shower. He grunted as the arguably lukewarm water hit him. Despite the temperature, however, it still felt amazing after the long and grueling day he’d had. With surprisingly good pressure, it was pure bliss as the spray washed away the grime, blood and who knew what else from his body. Rude didn't think he'd ever used so much soap in a single shower in his whole life, but with the stench of Elfadunk shit still in his nostrils he felt it was justified as he scrubbed away. Reno could make fun of him for being bald all he liked, but Rude couldn’t fathom how Reno could be bothered to spend all that time on his flamboyant hairstyle everyday doing the job they did. He’d be done in minutes and when he got out Reno would still be wrestling with the knots in his hair. He was just finishing up when he heard Reno bluster.

“Are you kidding me with this?”

Rude looked over his shoulder. Reno was dressed in the sweatpants and holding up the pink t-shirt, a disgruntled look on his face.

“It was all they had,” he lied, turning off the water. He grabbed the second towel and tied it around his waist.

“Is that right?” Reno asked skeptically.

“Yep.” Rude stepped out of the shower and crossed his arms over his chest.

Reno pulled it on over his head roughly. The t-shirt really was stupid looking. “And you won’t be embarrassed to walk around with me, dressed like this? _Partner_?”

Rude shrugged. “No more than usual.”

Reno’s nostrils flared, his eyes narrowed. “Cool,” he said. He stepped in close towards Rude so their faces were mere inches apart. “ _Cool_ ,” he said again. Reno’s hands moved, but Rude didn’t dare move his eyes from his. He could hear the sound of cloth moving and of skin on skin.

“Then you won’t mind if I…” Reno said, eyebrow raising. “Do _this_.”

“W-what are y-...” His eyes snapped down, suddenly very aware that Reno was fully clothed, and he had on nothing but a towel. He sucked in a breath.

Reno had tucked the bottom of his t-shirt up and pulled it through the neckline to turn the t-shirt into a horrendous bra slash crop-top Rude had seen girls do when he was a teenager. “So, _this_ isn’t going to be embarrassing either?” Reno asked nonchalantly, opening his arms wide. “No different from usual?”

“No,” Rude said as deadpan as he could. It was incredibly difficult. Reno looked really, very ridiculous. “I accept you...as you are.” He clapped a hand on his shoulder. “ _Partner_.”

Reno’s left eye twitched. Rude knew Reno wouldn’t give in until he broke him, so he would hold out for as long as he could even if it killed him. He bit the inside his cheek.

“Okay, then,” Reno said dangerously, and sucked his teeth. “Get your ass dressed and...let’s go have dinner with Luna.”

Rude lasted exactly five seconds once they’d gotten downstairs. Luna took one long look at Reno and said, “oh my, is that how they dress fancy boys in the city?” and Rude involuntarily spat a low laugh into his hand. Reno undid the knot immediately, clearly embarrassed despite his victory over Rude.

“No, ma’am. It was just a little joke,” Reno said and elbowed Rude in the stomach as if it was somehow _his_ fault he was a stubborn gnat. “It’s from the lost-and-found box. Thanks.”

Luna was a good host, and, so it turned out, an even better cook. She regaled them both with stories and gossip about the village, called Wres apparently, while they were both gulping down their second helping of noodles with some deliciously seasoned meat and vegetables.

“Hey, Luna,” Reno said, his mouth full. “I’m not kidding, you are one seriously good cook.” Rude nodded his agreement. “What’s in it?”

“Oh, thank you, dear,” she said, smiling. “You should know what’s in it, you helped prepare the meat this afternoon. They might be vermin, but they have a nice tang to them, don’t they?”

Rude choked.

Reno froze, his mouth left hung open as he stupidly looked from his plate to Rude and back again. “W-what, you mean this is Werera-”

Luna burst out laughing. “Oh, your _faces_!”

“Holy shit,” said Rude, coughing.

“It’s just chicken! Smalltown villagers can joke too, you know!”

Luna chortled to herself as she began to clear up. Reno was still very pale. He swallowed as if it pained him, then put down the chopsticks.

“I’ve had enough of today,” Reno said quietly. Rude silently agreed.

By the time the plates were cleared and dishes were done they were both so drowsy that they were bumping shoulders on the way up to the room Luna had given them a key to. Fumbling with the key in the door, Reno yawned loudly. Rude’s eyes dropped shut. After what seemed like an eternity, the door swung open. Rude stared in blank confusion for a moment at the room’s interior and blinked to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Oh,” they both said in unison.

The room had only one double bed. Rude had honestly been expecting a twin room. Rude and Reno had been partners for so long that sharing a room was of little concern to him, they’d done it literally dozens of times before. But they’d never been forced into one bed together. An awkward silence lay between them. Rude shifted his weight and debated briefly offering to sleep on the floor, or maybe Reno could flirt with Luna to get a second room.

“You know what, I’m so tired I don’t even care, man,” Reno moaned, walking inside to the bed. “Don’t hog the blankets.”

Rude just nodded dumbly and closed the door behind him. If he was honest with himself, he was too tired to care as well. He was glad Reno didn't mind them sharing because he didn't have it in him to deal with any more problems today. He just needed to sleep.

He climbed in beside Reno, moving around to get settled. It felt very strange to get cosy beside his partner like a little, old housewife. Though the bed was a far cry from the luxurious set up he had back in Midgar - _only the finest for Midgar’s bodyguards_ , he remembered being told upon his promotion- it was reasonably comfortable and the sheets smelled fresh.

“Lights out?” Reno asked, tying his hair into a ponytail.

“Yeah,” he said.

Reno switched off the lamp on the bedside table. Lying stiffly beside each other on their backs and looking up into the blackness at the ceiling, Rude wasn’t sure if he was exhausted or if this situation was as surreal as it felt. He could feel the warmth of Reno’s skin, hear only his slowing breathing, and smell the plain soap he’d used on his hair.

“This is…” Reno started.

“A little weird,” Rude finished.

“Yeah. Just a little.” They both laughed quietly. “What a day, huh?”

“You’re telling me,” Rude yawned.

“Just another day in the life of a Turk, am I right?”

“Right.”

They didn’t have anything else to say. Relaxed at last, Rude had quickly fallen into a doze when the sheets rustled and Reno rolled over to face him. He jabbed him with one pointy finger.

“Rude,” Reno whispered.

“Mm?” He caught a snore before it got loose.

“Do potatoes grow on trees?”

Rude laughed lowly into the dark, taken aback by the sudden question. He moved onto his side to look at Reno.

“No.”

“Damnit,” he hissed, and rolled back over on the other side.

Rude smiled and watched him wriggle into a comfortable position before finally closing his eyes.

He was dead asleep within seconds.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno has a moment to think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, a third chapter! Who would've thought I'd get this far? Hope you enjoy it, please let me know of any formatting issues (thanks ao3), and as always thoughts, comments and discussion are SO welcome. I also have a fandom Twitter account. You can find [me there too @AstridArrowood](https://twitter.com/AstridArrowood).

When Reno came to the next morning he was warm, comfortable and felt more rested than he could remember feeling in a long time. He could have easily slipped back into a doze and was sorely tempted to let himself do so. It turned out that being in a near fatal car crash, walking six miles with one shoe, having a _second_ near-death experience with a Wererat and getting sunburn (probably the worst part if he was being honest) all in one day really took it out of you. Who knew, he thought wryly. He wasn’t quite ready to sit up just yet, but he rolled a stretch all the way from his neck to his toes like a lazy cat in the sunshine as he slowly opened his eyes and blinked the sleep away. He jerked as his bare foot brushed against a hairy leg.

He froze.

Rude, he remembered. He was sharing a bed with Rude. The situation they’d found themselves in was so surreal that Reno almost wanted to laugh out loud. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, no car, no clothes, no cash, and caught fighting overgrown rats for the luxury of squeezing into a creaky bed together. Reno was already looking forward to retelling this tale when he got home, though he’d maybe skip this particular part.

Rude was lying close to him, not quite touching, but near enough that he could feel the heat of Rude’s considerable bulk at his back, and his breath on his neck as he continued to snore softly. It was strange and almost thrilling to wake up beside him, like he was a kid having a sleepover with his best friend. Yet, somehow, it was still innately comforting like putting on a pair of warm socks on a cold morning. It was as though the day was already guaranteed to be good with Rude by his side. He felt almost giddy with anticipation, already looking forward to fighting something together, joking with him, and sharing a sidelong glance when he knew they were both thinking the same thing. Reno was usually eager to head to the office, and enjoyed his day-to-day work but the excitement burgeoning in his chest was something a little different than that today. He scoffed quietly to himself and, feeling a little reckless, he angled his foot to touch Rude’s leg very lightly again. Definitely _weird_ , he decided despite the pleasant shiver that travelled up his spine.

He knew from sharing a room before that Rude was a light sleeper so, very carefully, he began to sit up. Annoyingly, his hair had come loose from his ponytail during the night. He screwed up his face as he grabbed handfuls of it. It was dry and flyaway from the soap he'd used on it last night. It was better than being filthy and knotted with blood and guts, but really only _just_. He pulled the length of it over his shoulder and twisted the ends with his finger as he glanced around the bedroom.

The room looked completely different by the light of day. Sunlight poured into the bedroom through a large set of windows to the left of the bed where the thin curtains swayed in the gentle breeze. Judging from the angle of the light, they had slept late into the morning. The wallpaper was peppered with a design of little trees and plants and the floors were wooden and well polished. The furnishings were simple, though dated, and also wooden to match the floors. A small vase with a single, long-stemmed daisy was left beside the lamp on the bedside table. It was quaint, but all in all it gave off the impression that Luna was very house proud. Suddenly Reno felt a little sad for her. She obviously took care of the place as best she could on her own, yet Reno was sure it was rarely enjoyed by anyone. He wondered how she could even keep the inn open. It was probably a struggle, he realised.

Displeased with the melancholy route of his thoughts, he shook them from his mind and instead looked down at Rude, who still slept on, curled on his side facing Reno. He looked younger asleep, Reno thought, peaceful even. It wasn’t that Rude normally looked old and troubled when he was awake. But he often had a tenseness linger on his brow, or a strained pinch hang on the corners of his mouth. Nobody could say that Rude was an animated man, not by a long shot, but after all their years as partners, Reno noticed these subtle, telling things about him.

Like this, if Reno squinted, he supposed he could see what all the ladies back at HQ meant when they buzzed like insects about _Rude_ of The _Turks_. Rude was a good-looking guy. Naturally, Reno was certain that _he_ was still the more handsome of the two of them, but sure, he could admit to himself that Rude was, objectively, a very attractive man. He made fun of him for being bald, but it actually suited him, and he looked much cooler now with facial hair than when he'd been clean shaven all the time. When he wasn’t wearing sunglasses you could see that he had nice, warm eyes, if you liked that kind of thing. He didn’t smile much, but when he did, Reno supposed he liked that as well.

A particularly loud snore emanated from Rude then, tugging the corner of Reno’s lip upwards. Rude outwardly appeared so aloof and stylish in his pressed suits, snazzy accessories and leather gloves, that it had been a very amusing discovery the first time Reno heard Rude’s snoring. Reno repressed a sly, little laugh at the memory. However, back in the present, despite the loudness of his own snore, Rude didn’t seem to stir, so Reno drew his knees up to his chest, content to simply look at him some more. His dark skin was tanned from yesterday’s walk in the sun. His eyelashes were very long against his freckled cheeks. Reno hadn’t ever noticed them before, and he had an urge to trail a finger along the brush of them, just to see if they were soft.

Rude grumbled a little. Reno grinned eagerly, very much hoping that Rude would say something silly in his sleep that he could tease him over later.

“Reno…” Rude said in between tiny snores.

Reno’s eyes went wide instantly. He sat, paralysed by a sudden flush of hot, fluttering, inexplicable embarrassment. His heart beat wildly in his chest. What was he _doing_? Reno had seen Rude asleep, many times before. But he was abruptly, painfully aware of the fact that he was _watching_ him sleep. It was a different act, especially when they lay close beside each other. It felt _intimate_ , like he was one of those desperate, swooning chicks back at HQ. The thought alone made him feel stupid and angry, so Reno did what any emotionally well-adjusted man would do, and poked Rude hard between the eyes.

“Hey. Wake up, dumbass,” he said.

Rude snatched his hand and bent it painfully before he could pull it back. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?” he mumbled sluggishly, releasing it after a short moment. His brown eyes opened only to narrow at Reno.

Reno beamed, feeling placated already. “You snore, do you know _that_?”

Rude blinked up at him with a strange look that Reno didn’t understand. He wondered if he’d offended him somehow.

“Hm. You drool, like an animal,” Rude grunted after a moment.

“What kind of animal drools?”

“Pigs, for one.”

Reno laughed. Rude rubbed his face and stretched, a very small smile on his face.

“You were really asleep,” Reno said. “It’s almost noon.”

“Guess I needed it after yesterday,” Rude said. He sat up to swing his legs out of bed and stood. He stretched with a short groan, the too small t-shirt he wore riding up high on his stomach. Reno eyed his abdomen enviously. Reno wished he could put on weight to get the kind of impressive muscle mass Rude pulled off. If Reno was honest with himself, the only reason he went to the gym so much was to keep up with Rude, but he knew he’d always be miles behind.

“So, what’s the plan?” Reno asked, dragging his eyes away.

“You mean you're not planning on robbing Luna blind to get the 500?” Rude said.

“Nah,” Reno said, waving his hand.

“Oh, come on,” Rude said, mimicking Reno’s miserly grumbling from the day before. “Don’t go getting a conscious on me now, partner!”

“Shut up, asshole. I changed my mind, okay?”

Rude cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I’m not going to steal from a little, old lady. Are you happy?”

“Or a snoozing, old grandpa?”

Reno flushed. “Cut it out. I was in a shitty mood, man.”

Rude smirked. “Hm. Then we need to find some work.”

“I guess we gotta ask around, huh? Luna might have some leads. We should go talk to her, and let’s go back to the basement as well and see if there’s anything else we can wear because we look fucking dumb, man.”

Rude nodded. They each took care of their morning ablutions to the best of their ability, which was made a lot more achievable due to the small amount of toiletries Luna had given them both. The thought of a week without a toothbrush was disgusting for Reno, probably unbearable for Rude who was typically fastidious about hygiene. Although they were missing their many usual luxuries, such as hair products for Reno and cologne for Rude, and underwear all round, Reno felt fresh and energised for the day.

Luna was sitting cross-legged and perched on a chair at the reception desk when they eventually went downstairs, Reno nearly tripping in his too-big, borrowed boots in the process. The tabby cat was curled up napping on her lap this time, and she fiddled with the glasses on the edge of her nose absentmindedly. She was bent over some papers, clearly absorbed into whatever she was reading. Rude cleared his throat to announce their presence and she startled.

“Good morning, boys. Or should I say, good afternoon.”

“Excuse us, we didn’t mean to-” Rude started.

“Oh, not at all. I thought after the day you both had yesterday a little extra sleep was what the doctor ordered. I _was_ worried you’d both died at one point, but I heard you snoring away on the other side of the door, so I figured probably not.” The words were friendly enough, but her tone was cold. Reno frowned.

It was much easier to tell when Rude was embarrassed when he wasn’t wearing his glasses, Reno noticed. In fact, now that he thought about it, Reno didn’t think Rude had ever gone this long without a pair before. His brown eyes gave a lot away about how he felt. Apparently he was more expressive than Reno had thought.

Taking pity on him, Reno groaned. “That was me, Luna,” he said. “Deviated septum, y’know? It’s bullshit, but what you gonna do, right?”

“Yes, that makes sense. Your nose does have a little bump there.” She tutted at him, tapped her own nose and turned back to her papers. Reno rubbed the line of his nose. What little bump, he thought.

Rude cleared his throat. “Luna, we were wondering if you might know anyone looking for a helping hand around here. We need to find work to pay Cyrus.”

“Well, you boys slept in far too late to help out the farmers. They leave at first light and don’t come back into town until dusk. Maybe tomorrow you can catch them and take a ride up to the orchards. They always have pests making their day tougher.”

Reno sucked at his teeth, and looked to Rude. “Is there anything else we can do around here? Two big guys, ready to work, that’s gotta come in handy.”

Luna chuckled to herself. “You have another friend coming?”

“What?”

“You said _two_ big guys, where’s the second?”

Reno blinked. “Ouch. Two for one, huh.”

She laughed under her breath as she sorted through a stack of papers, obviously preoccupied with something else entirely. Rude wasn’t looking at him, and shuffled his weight which meant he was trying not to laugh. Reno scowled at him. Traitor.

The conversation with Luna clearly over for the moment, Rude tapped him on the arm and gestured to the basement with a nod of his head. They both climbed down silently until they were safely out of earshot, and standing in the eerie glow of the swaying basement light.

“Hey, yo, what’s up with her? Something stinks.”

Rude nodded. “She was reading something.”

“Yeah, I wonder what it was...you know, I’m beginning to wonder if we shouldn’t have told that old man barkeep that we were Turks…”

Rude raised his eyebrows at him.

“Okay, _I_ shouldn’t have told him.”

“People outside Midgar aren’t too friendly to Shinra.”

“Even _in_ Midgar, am I right?”

“Right. So let’s try not to stir up any more trouble. Keep it simple. We work, we get paid, we go.”

Reno nodded along, half-listening to what Rude said as he opened up the lost-and-found trunk. He rummaged through it enthusiastically, eager to find something that wasn’t a pink horse t-shirt and sweatpants that fell down his bare ass every five minutes.

“Oh-ho, and what do we have here?” Reno pulled out a black t-shirt from the bottom of the pile and waved it at Rude accusingly. “You didn’t come across this last night, _partner_?”

“Huh,” Rude said, expressionlessly. “How ‘bout that.”

Reno pulled a disbelieving face at him, and sharply yanked out an elaborate, ugly tie-dye shirt. “For you,” he said with an icy smile that in no way left the proposition up for discussion. Rude took it without a word, knowing full well he was busted.

Reno ended up finding a number of things that would work for the both of them for the next few days. They carried the assortment of looted shorts, pants, shirts and even a couple of sweaters just in case up to the room they were sharing. They decided they would use last night’s sweatpants and t-shirts for wearing in the inn, and to bed. For the day ahead, Rude wore oversized, beige cargo shorts with the hideous tie-dye shirt that was probably two sizes too small, Reno realised, and had a rhinestone peace symbol on the front. Reno had a black t-shirt and camouflage khaki pants. Good thing they still had belts from their suits to keep everything securely in place because neither of them had underwear on. All in all, they both looked pretty stupid, but Reno was pleased to have enacted his revenge on Rude, and to be out of the pink horse t-shirt.

“Peace, man” Reno said, doing a V with his fingers as Rude looked down at himself disgruntledly.

“Shut up, Reno,” Rude said.

“Let’s end the war and put flowers in our hai...oh. In my hair, I suppose.”

Rude sighed through his nose. Reno knew when Rude was losing his patience so he stopped while he was ahead. He didn’t want to push him too far this early in the day after all.

When they ambled back downstairs, Luna was nowhere to be seen. The papers she’d been reading, however, were still scattered across her desk. Reno nudged Rude and pointed questioningly. Rude shook his head at him, making it quite clear that he didn’t think it was polite to go through her personal documents, but Reno had already made up his mind. Quick as a flash, he darted behind the desk, making sure to look over his shoulder first. He spread the papers out carelessly, speed reading what he could before Luna returned.

“They’re bills,” he said quietly after a moment. He bit his bottom lip, as his eyes scanned across the pages furiously. “It’s not good. Luna’s flat broke, man.” He shouldn’t be reading this, he realised. He obviously didn’t know Luna well, but he knew she would be embarrassed by him knowing this about her, yet he still couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Reno didn’t really worry about money and hadn’t for a long time, not since he had become a Turk. He was paid well for the dirty work he did, and he was damn grateful for it, too. But it hadn’t always been that way. He remembered the feeling of being a kid fishing a letter just like the ones in front of him out of his Ma’s mailbox with a ball of dread heavy in his stomach. Even as a young boy, he knew a letter with a certain logo on it would mean a week with no food or a week with no power.

“This is some bullshit,” he mumbled. The letters were threatening with everything underlined or in bold, lawyers this, bank that, and interest, interest, interest. Reno felt a little dizzy reading them, as though he’d been hurtled back to a time where he sat at his Ma’s side as she cried clutching a similar letter in her hands. He could still hear her coughing gutturally as her health slowly failed her, he could taste the stale bread they ate for dinner, and he could feel the splintering wood digging into his knees as they hid under a table when the debt collector came to the door. _Don’t make a sound, Reno_ , he could hear her breathe into his ear. _They’ll go away, just don’t make a sound._

He regretted reading the letters immediately. He felt terrible; sick and sad and angry all at the same time. He put them back the way he’d found them and returned to Rude’s side. Rude looked at him cautiously, like he’d known exactly what was in those letters, and exactly how Reno felt now.

Rude didn’t say anything about it, but he patted him on the back roughly and pinched the scruff of his neck.

“Come on, let’s go look around. We’ll come back later and talk to her,” Rude said.

Reno nodded mutely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, sweet baby Reno. He's gonna no homo himself into space at this rate. Also, I want to point out that Rude saying Reno's name in his sleep is CANON (cast sleep on Rude to see for yourself!).
> 
> This was a difficult chapter to write, multiple times it went in directions I hadn't expected. I know it's a weird chapter with not really a lot happening, but it was getting long and if I started a whole new sub plot now it would've taken weeks more to write and would've ended up at 10k words easily. Plus, I kind of want to write the next part from Rude's POV, and it seemed like a natural ending point.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno's mood had turned sour. The only question on Rude's mind was why...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, this chapter is much longer, about double the length as the last one. It deals with some more mature issues that some people may find upsetting, but there's some sweet along with the bitter, so I hope you stick with it and enjoy it. 
> 
> As always, you can find me [on Twitter as @AstridArrowood](https://twitter.com/AstridArrowood). Thoughts, discussion, feedback and comments are always appreciated by writers, especially in lockdown so please consider letting me know what you think.

Rude watched Reno closely as they left the inn. Though his expression was shuttered, it was clear to Rude that reading Luna’s overdue bills had bothered him deeply. Rude thought it was a pity that Luna was struggling, of course, but Reno seemed to have taken the information to heart. Or to whatever booze-soaked slab of meat pumped in Reno’s chest. Rude just didn’t understand _why_. Reno couldn’t have come to care about Luna and her life that much overnight, so it had to be something other than Luna’s dismal finances that had spoiled Reno’s mood. He wondered what was going on inside that head of his.

“Reno?” he asked cautiously.

Reno just nodded in response, squinting against the bright sun as he looked into the distance instead of at Rude. He rubbed hard along his collarbone through the faded black t-shirt seemingly absentmindedly, but Rude knew better. He felt something sink in his stomach. All the easy laughter and warmth from the morning they’d spent joking together had all but evaporated into a tense, uncomfortable air. Rude scratched at his chin as he processed it all. While Rude knew Reno well, his unpredictability was not always a joy to endure.

“Are you hungry?” he tried again.

Reno flinched noticeably in answer to the question, which was odd in and of itself, but then he snapped around to face Rude with a sharp grin that didn’t reach his eyes. It gave further cause for Rude to frown. It seemed obvious to him that Reno had slipped into the kind of bad headspace that usually meant trouble for the pair of them.

“Yeah. Let’s go get some fucking food,” Reno said darkly.

Rude knew Reno was a little quirky when it came to money matters. He always split the bill to the gil, he’d once opened a drawer at Reno’s place looking for a corkscrew and had found it literally full of coupons, he never threw a pair of shoes away even when they started to fall apart, he’d impulse spend thousands on random shit only to return it the next day, he stashed cash in hidden places around his apartment and he cut his own hair. It was odd. Even though they made a generous amount as Turks, Reno always acted like he was one foot out the door on his way to the poor house. Rude had always brushed those things away as some of Reno’s neuroses. After all, there were plenty more where those came from. He was aware Reno had grown up poor under the plate, but this reaction to the depth of Luna’s grim financial situation had Rude thinking that perhaps he’d underestimated what that meant.

“Reno,” he called out, but it was too late, Reno was already making a beeline straight for the modestly sized marketplace. Rude grumbled to himself, but followed faithfully.

Weaving through the lazily perusing people going about their day, Rude observed the colourful stalls stocked full with soft linens, handmade jewellery, fresh produce, sizzling seafood and baked breads that smelled delicious. It was busy enough that Rude could wind through the market relatively unnoticed by the village folk bartering for the best deals, but amongst the crowd of people with dark, greying or bald heads, Reno stuck out like a red rose in a garden of weeds. Rude followed him sheepishly, trying to keep his profile low as Reno recklessly slipped various items into his and Rude’s pockets from stalls and baskets alike, with no more than a charming smile and a kind word for the owner if it aided him. He was a talented thief, no doubt about that, but that was hardly news to Rude.

“Come on,” Reno hissed as Rude drew up behind him. “And stop looking so guilty, idiot, you’ll get us caught.”

Rude nodded silently and wished for the upteenth time that he had sunglasses.

“Huh?” he heard a woman mutter to herself. “Where is my...? Oh, you _bad_ dog, did you eat my pastry?” Rude looked out of the corner of his eye just in time to see the woman bop the dog on the snout as she clutched her basket close. The dog faltered beside her, obviously confused as to what he’d done wrong.

Sorry, dog, Rude thought.

At last, both of their pockets were filled and Reno seemed satisfied with the little chaos he had created for the time being. Rude was grateful when they finally steered away from the market, and he could release the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding in. Under the shaded canopy of a closed bookstore, away from the crowds, Reno grinned at him as he proudly presented what he’d stolen.

“Eat up,” he said with narrowed eyes as though challenging Rude to say something. Rude didn’t want to start an argument, and he _was_ hungry, so he did as Reno suggested. They sat on the dusty, hot ground in silence as they ate their way through the loot. Rude split the pastry in two, passing the other half to Reno wordlessly. The sugary treat was flaky, fresh and sweet in his mouth, but it might as well have been a lemon for how bitter Rude felt about how the morning had turned. From teasing each other in bed together with Reno's scarlet hair like a halo of golden fire against the sunlight to hiding in a dirty, smelly alley, eating stolen food in stony silence. What had gone wrong?

“Hey,” someone called. “You two!”

“Uh-oh. Busted,” Reno sing-songed eagerly. He threw the remnants of the pastry he’d been munching on over his shoulder and quickly got on his feet to round on the singular man who approached them. Rude grasped him by the arm roughly before Reno leapt at him unprovoked. The young man faltered as he saw the mean look on Reno’s face. He was wearing a sauce-stained apron, and a headscarf tying his black hair back.

“Hey, you, uh, you’re the two guys looking for work, r-right? Luna said to look out for the big guy and the redhead.”

“That’s right,” Rude said with a step ahead of Reno.

“Okay, great!” He blew out his cheeks exaggeratedly and threw his hands up high on his hips. “Glad I found you in time! My name’s Lin, and I need some help at my restaurant for the day. Mona and Leia got sick, so I _really_ need help in the kitchen. Think you can lend a hand? Money’s not great, but I can guarantee you dinner and a beer at the end of the night. How about it?”

“Sounds good to us. I’m Rude, this is Reno. We’ll follow you now.”

Lin nodded. “Awesome, it’s just this way!”

“That was lucky,” he said quietly to Reno.

“Hm.”

Reno had a vicious look in his eye, as though he’d been genuinely hoping he’d been caught stealing so he’d have an excuse to beat someone bloody. He emanated a thrumming, dangerous energy that Rude longed to dissipate. It left him on edge and he didn’t like it. He never really could tell what Reno might pull when he was like this. He wanted to reach out and flick Reno’s nose, or tug on his ponytail, or trip him up, anything to inject some of their previous playfulness back into the air around them, but he already knew any attempt would fail, or just make things worse. He sighed inwardly, he would just have to accept Reno’s shitty mood for what it was, for now at least.

They followed Lin past the market, through the main street, until they crossed into a narrow backstreet that Rude hadn’t noticed before. It was almost cramped with small open air restaurants and stalls selling assorted meaty street food and doughy sweets. Large, brightly coloured bunting hung above their heads, connecting the wooden, rickety buildings with delicate cut-outs of dragons, moons and stars.

“What do you think those are for?” Rude asked, turning back to Reno. Reno only shrugged in response, sparing only a glance for them.

“Here we are,” said Lin at last. “Welcome to Lin’s!”

Lin’s restaurant was much like the others they’d walked past, although Lin seemed to specialise in a kind of brothy noodle soup in large, oversized bowls with a variety of fatty meat and vegetables added in. It smelled great. Even though Rude’s stomach was full from the stolen market snacks he was already looking forward to the free dinner at the end of the shift. The restaurant was open-air, made up of a handful of unstable, long tables outside with some threadbare rags hung above them, for weather protection presumably. Inside the only enclosed area, it was dark, and cool. There was a small counter with a tip jar and till. Behind that, there was a loudly humming fridge full of bottled beers and a huge sink, a glowing jukebox flickered on and off to the left, and to the right was a well-stocked kitchen behind a mid-sized set of swinging partition doors. All in all it looked rundown as hell, but friendly and clean. It was exactly the kind of place he and Reno would frequent back in Midgar.

“I open soon,” said Lin. “It’ll probably be busy so I might need help waiting the tables, chopping ingredients, and doing the dishes.”

“That's all fine,” said Rude.

“Whatever you need, _boss_ ,” Reno said sourly.

“Great, you're really saving my ass! Without the girls, I’d have to close up for the day and I honestly couldn't afford to do that.”

He handed them both aprons and headscarves hanging from the wall. Reno did not look pleased about either, but did as he was asked. Rude tied the headscarf on and looked at Reno for some kind of a reaction to how silly he looked. Reno ignored him.

They helped Lin prepare his ingredients for the first hour before people started to arrive. Rude was no masterchef, but he knew how to dice and julienne in a pinch. Reno on the other hand, he caught watching him out the corner of his eye multiple times as he clumsily mimicked Rude’s actions.

“Like this,” he said gently and showed Reno the motions slowly.

“Whatever,” Reno said and rolled his eyes at him. “Who honestly gives a fuck, man?”

Rude bristled. He didn’t appreciate the scathing tone, so he didn’t try to speak to Reno again. Let him stew in his own bullshit then, he thought angrily.

Lin hadn't been lying. His food was apparently very popular with the locals. Once people started pouring in and queuing up for a space at a table, Lin worked exclusively in the kitchen while Reno and Rude served the tables back and forth. Neither of them knew the menu so it was sometimes difficult to know what the patrons were asking for, but Lin seemed to figure it out and didn’t give them any hassle when he couldn’t. Although they were run off their feet, Rude was grateful for the distraction of hard work. It was kind of fun, the jukebox played merry music, the customers were polite, and he hoped it would shake Reno out of his bad mood.

“Low salt, I said,” a woman called after Reno.

“Bitch, who cares,” Reno drawled under his breath, walking away. Rude frowned at him. Maybe not.

For the rest of the day Rude tried not to let Reno bother him. Instead he focussed on the job at hand. It reminded Rude of the hard graft work he’d done when he first moved to Midgar. Rude had spent most of his teens and early twenties working in kitchens, warehouses, clubs, anywhere that would have him really. He’d lived topside, so decent work had been easy to come by. He’d worked double or triple shifts when he could hack it. It was uncomplicated, honest work and a part of him had missed it. It was very different to what he did now, he supposed, but he had no regrets.

He realised he hadn’t heard Reno snap at anyone for the last little while. Rude scanned the room looking for him as he took another order from a new customer. From his peripheral vision, Rude spotted Reno coming down the narrow set of stairs towards him. Why had he been upstairs in Lin’s apartment, Rude asked himself with a sinking feeling. Reno caught his eye and patted his pockets, smirking snidely. Rude tried desperately to school his reaction. He’d clearly stolen money from Lin, he realised.

“Problem, partner?” Reno whispered as he passed him.

“Reno-”

“ _Relax_ , nobody saw me.”

“ _I_ saw you.”

Reno only hummed enigmatically and returned to the kitchen.

It put Rude in a foul mood. He knew they were bound to get caught at some point, and Rude did not look forward to threatening or knocking Lin out. He was just a simple, friendly, hard-working guy. He didn’t need two jackasses from the city stealing his stuff.

After a few more hours the restaurant had more people casually drinking and eating snacks. Lin asked them to start on the heap of dirty dishes at the sink. With Reno being as vicious as he was today, Rude didn't particularly relish the thought of standing with him in the same tiny space, but he wasn't in a position to argue.

They worked in silence. Quickly at first to keep up with the demand, then eventually the restaurant started to wind down further and they were able to take a more relaxed approach to washing the bowls and spoons. Reno had long since stopped snapping and biting like a caged weasel and instead had become subdued, almost downtrodden. His motions tired and limp as though all his shitty, angry energy had left him depressed and wiped out. Rude realised that he couldn't just ride this one out and wait for it to go away. Something had happened today, and he was still in the dark about what caused it. Rude knew he had some kind of responsibility to ask Reno about it, not only as his partner, but as his friend.

“Luna, her bills...” Rude started before he trailed off. He didn’t know what to say next.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Reno said with a cold finality as he rubbed a wet cloth over an already clean plate. Rude nodded hesitantly. Again, the heavy silence settled between them for a long time. Through it, Rude could feel that, despite his words, Reno _did_ want to talk. But, like Rude, he couldn’t get the words out. So, instead they both let the pregnant quiet win out as they stood shoulder to shoulder, their hands working methodically in the deep sink.The innocent noises around them, the chatter of the few patrons left, the low, soft music from the jukebox, the swish of the soapy water and the clink of the dishes seemed to only exacerbate the tension around them.

Rude reached for another bowl, and startled as he accidentally grabbed Reno’s hand in the suds instead.

“Sorry,” he mumbled as he released it immediately. He felt his face heat up.

Reno shrugged it off, but Rude noticed his Adam's apple bob in his throat, and he went very still as he turned his face away.

Rude stared at him. Then, feeling more daring than he ever had before, Rude reached and roughly grabbed Reno’s hand again and squeezed it. After what felt like the longest second in Rude’s life, he felt Reno’s fingers clasp hesitantly around his under the safe cover of the water. Rude’s heart felt like it plummeted into his belly.

Reno exhaled through his nose and he closed his eyes as if he were steeling himself for something. A celebratory cry resounded throughout the establishment as someone popped open a bottle of fizzy wine, but it barely registered with Rude, zoned in as he was on what Reno said next.

“I...you know I grew up in the slums, right?” Reno said quickly, but quietly as if he almost hoped Rude wouldn’t hear him. His voice was strained.

“I know.”

Reno breathed audibly. “Well, that wasn’t a walk in the fuckin’ park...you know? When I was a kid...I know a lot’s changed under the plate in the last ten years or so, but it used to be really _, really_...not good down there. Me and my Ma, we didn’t have much of anything, no food, no soap, no heat, no fucking _shoes_ sometimes, and she was so... _sick_ all the time. She couldn’t really work. I did this and that to help, but...” Reno cleared his throat. He wouldn’t look at him. “She wanted me to go to school.”

“Reno, you don’t have to-” Reno let go of his hand and turned to face him, apparently riled up enough now that he wouldn’t go back on what he intended to say.

“Nah, you should know. Some things don’t go away and if we’re really going to have each other’s back out there, there’s just some shit you should fucking know. I don’t know why, but you just... _should_ , okay?”

Rude nodded.

Reno sighed. “We had no money, zero, zilch, and I’m guessing my Ma took out a lot of loans from Wall Market guys. I remember debt collectors, landlords, creepy shitbag loan sharks threatening her, and sleazy guys that were probably pimps trying to...well, you’re imaginative. Sure you can work that one out. We had _nothing_. When the bailiffs came I tried to fight them off, but they hire big guys for that kind of work, bigger than you, even. Or maybe it just seemed that way. I was only nine then, so.”

 _Nine_ , Rude thought, aghast.

“Those big assholes took everything we had, and it wasn’t long after that that we lost our shitty little house, too. They threw us out into the streets, like dogs.” He sneered hideously. “We stayed with some people for a while, but that...didn’t work out. My Ma was real ill by then and I was...a handful. We ended up homeless. Then things got really ugly, if you can believe it. I’ll spare you some of the fucking details. There’s some shit I just won’t talk about.”

More like _can’t_ talk about, Rude thought. He was horrified.

“But it ended up that one day my Ma just...left.” He spoke about it as if he were describing something casual, like the weather, but his knuckles were white as he clenched his fists. “I don’t know what happened to her, but I can’t blame her. You think I’m a pain in the ass now, you should’ve seen me at thirteen.” He laughed meanly for a moment. “I never saw her again. I tried to make it on my own for a while, but I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. Lucky I didn’t get myself killed, or worse. I got bounced around a few orphanages for years, till I aged out, fucked around in gangs for a bit and the rest, well, you know all that.”

He did.

“Reno…” Rude felt something akin to pity for Reno. He’d only been a kid when he was abandoned, and it was clear that he blamed himself for a lot of things that had been outside his control.

“Don’t look at me like that. This is why I don’t talk about it, man.”

“Sorry.”

“Look, being...poor,” he spat the word out like it shamed him. “It was rough under the plate. I know people look at me funny when I do weird shit, but I can’t fucking help it. It’s just...it all started with letters like Luna’s, in my mind at least, and I guess with us being broke out here, and then you asked...well. It doesn’t matter, it all just...threw me back in time a bit. It’s fine now, _I’m_ fine. I’m...sorry I was such a prick earlier. And I’ll put back the money I stole.”

Rude didn’t know what possessed him, but he pulled Reno towards him and hugged him close. It was ridiculously awkward. The moment he’d done it, he almost regretted it. Reno was all sharp edges, angular, and painfully rigid in his embrace.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said into his ear and patted him on the back soundly. He felt Reno swallow, and relax minutely against him, then completely fold against him with a tired sigh, his arms slid up Rude’s back as he leaned into it. It felt nice.

Hovering just on the cusp of weird, they separated quickly, coughing, slapping each other on the back and sniffing.

Reno cleared his throat. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“We cool?”

“Yeah, we cool.”

“What, are we gonna have to swap tampons now?” Reno said, pulling a face.

Rude recoiled. “Do you know anything about women?”

“What’s to know?” He flicked his ponytail behind him exaggeratedly. “Oh no! My hair, my makeup, my huge tits are out. Save me!” he whined.

“You just described yourself, idiot.”

Reno threw his head back with a loud bark of laughter. It made Rude's heart lighter to hear it.

Lin came in, balancing another pile of dirty dishes under his chin. Rude hurried to help him settle them down.

“Phew, thanks. That was a close one. Hey, that's a wrap for the day, I can handle it from here. Thanks for all your hard work today, you really saved my ass. Why don’t you get your friend and grab a seat outside, I’ll bring you both some food and your cash for the day.”

Rude nodded. “Thank you.”

He turned back to Reno, but he had already vanished. No doubt using the moment of distraction to sneak the stolen money back, to Rude’s relief. Rude did one final run around of the restaurant, making sure he’d cleared it as best he could before he shucked off his apron.

It was already sunset, the air was warm still but with a pleasant breeze that felt good on his skin after being trapped in a humid, steamy room hunched over a sink for hours. Rude took a table away from the others and leaned back to people-watch for a moment while he waited for Reno to rejoin him.

Lin came outside with two chilled bottles of beer.

“Here you go. Where’s Reno?” he asked.

“Uh, bathroom,” Rude said, hoping he didn’t look too shifty.

“Oh, okay, cool. You guys good with the Lin Special? Comes with pretty much everything.”

“Sounds great.”

Lin gave him a salute and headed back inside.

Rude took a sip of his beer, feeling a lot more relaxed than he had earlier. He suddenly felt like he was on vacation like this, in the evening humidity with a nice, cold drink. Despite the circumstances, it was strangely enjoyable, if a little stressful with Reno’s antics. He tapped his fingernail against the glass. He thought he’d known almost everything about Reno, but apparently he still had a lot to learn. While Reno’s story hadn’t changed how he thought about him, it certainly explained some things. He wondered who else knew about it. Veld and Tseng maybe. Background checks were very stringent in Shinra, so it would make sense.

Rude thought back to when he’d first gotten to know Reno. He’d been loud, cocky, and lazy (he was still all those things, come to think of it), but he was well put-together. Rude would never have imagined him as an abandoned kid sleeping on the streets, looking through the trash for food. Rude hadn’t met Reno until he was nineteen, though. Rude rolled up the sleeves of his hideous t-shirt and leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself as he remembered. The very first time Rude had actually “met” Reno, Reno had been stealing his wallet. He remembered feeling something brush against his flank, he’d sharply turned and had come almost nose-to-nose with a wild-haired, young redhead smirking up at him.

“What up, handsome,” Reno had said, looking him up and down, a flirty look in his bluish green eyes.

Rude remembered with horrible chagrin that he’d been _flattered_ , but totally unable to answer. He’d been painfully shy at twenty. Then his unaware friend beside him had nudged him to pay the hotdog guy, and that was when he fumbled and noticed his wallet was gone. When he looked back up, Reno was already halfway down the street. They’d locked eyes again and Reno had sneered that sharp-toothed little grin of his the moment he knew he was caught.

“Thanks, dickwad,” he’d called and then pelted down an alley.

Rude huffed a small laugh into his beer as he remembered. He’d been so embarrassed at the time. But that had only been the start of it...

“What’re you laughing at?” Reno asked as he finally returned.

Rude shook his head. “Nothing,” he said.

Reno hummed disbelievingly, and took a beer for himself.

“Did you manage to put the money back?” Rude asked.

Reno nodded. “Easy peasy,” he said and winked.

Rude smiled. Reno might have been much older now, but he still had that cheeky charm that had caught him by completely off-guard all those years ago.

Lin brought their money for the day, which as promised, wasn’t great, and their food which made it all worth it. They devoured the rich soup and thick noodles eagerly, and drank a couple more of the beers, chatting amicably about nothing important in particular. By the end of their second beers it was dark and they were both yawning.

“Let’s head back,” Rude said.

They thanked Lin, helped him clear up and shuffled slowly back to the inn. There seemed to be a festive attitude in general around Wres tonight. Rude wondered if it was like this all the time or if something special was happening. The cicadas buzzed, Reno was whistling some silly song, and Rude felt very peaceful.

“Hey,” Reno said. “What were you dreaming about last night?”

Rude shrugged. “I dunno. Why?”

“No reason, you were just talking in your sleep a little.”

“I did? What did I say?”

“Can’t remember.”

Luna was nowhere to be seen when they returned. When they walked upstairs to their room there was a note lying on the bed. It read: _Boys, the farmers will pick you up at 6am. I set the alarm clock for you._

“Early start for us tomorrow, I guess,” Rude said, passing Reno the note.

Reno groaned. “Better go to sleep now.”

“Yeah, you want first dibs on the shower?”

“Way ahead of you,” Reno said, grabbing his towel he’d left in a heap yesterday.

About an hour later, after Rude had his turn in the shower, he returned to find Reno already curled up on his side in the bed. Without the burden of overwhelming exhaustion, getting into the bed beside him felt even stranger than it had the night before.

“G’night,” he mumbled awkwardly before he leaned over Reno to switch off the lamp.

“Mm,” Reno moaned, already half-asleep.

As time ticked by, Rude found himself struggling to fall into a deep slumber as quickly as he had last night. It didn’t help that Reno was a troubled sleeper. In their job, the pair of them had shared a room on more than one occasion so Rude was aware of it to some extent, but it had never disturbed him before as it was generally ‘silent’ trouble and they’d always had separate beds. It was a different situation altogether lying near each other in one small bed, their bodies close and long limbs brushing. Being a light sleeper, Rude was quickly irritated with how often he was woken up by Reno’s twitching. They weren’t delicate or gently distressed movements like a maiden from a book in the midst of a feverish vision. They were rigid convulsions as if he were about to spring up and attack something.

Reno said he had ‘vivid dreams’. Rude couldn’t relate, he almost never remembered his dreams upon waking. He was the type of man who would say he didn’t dream, despite knowing it was scientifically impossible not to. He wondered if Reno’s troubled sleeping had something to do with what he’d told him today about his past. It was difficult to imagine otherwise. Reno had spent years of his life alone, looking over his shoulder. He still was, Rude supposed. Their job was a long shot from safe, after all. But at least now, when Reno looked over his shoulder, Rude knew he would be there watching his back. He rolled his eyes at his own maudlin thoughts.

He was just on the edge of slipping into a comfortable rest again when he was jostled right out of it by another violent twitch and gasp. He sighed and rolled onto his side to face Reno's back, fully intending on kicking him or yanking on his hair to jerk him out of whatever nightmare he was having.

“Pain in the ass,” he grumbled to himself.

He relaxed his grip on Reno's damp ponytail as quickly as he'd grabbed it. Instead he twisted the silky strands in his fingers, waiting until Reno trembled again, then made a shushing sound quietly. When nothing changed, he carefully rubbed Reno's arm in what he hoped was a soothing manner. That seemed to help a little. After another moment, against his better judgement, Rude shifted even closer to him. That worked more. Reno's jittery breathing slowly evened out and he eventually started to snore a little. Rude scoffed, and Reno had the gall to make fun of _him_ for snoring.

Lying so near to him, Rude could smell Reno's hair. It was a pleasant scent. Reno would doubtless complain about it not being as good as that overpriced, almond-scented nonsense he used in Midgar, but Rude breathed it in. Reno made a small, sleepy noise and relaxed his whole body back against his chest so there was no space between their bodies. Rude swallowed a lump in his throat. It felt nice. He waited for a long moment. Finally, satisfied that he could get some rest at last, Rude sighed and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just two bros being bros tho, holding hands like bros, snuggling in bed like bros, just bro stuff. oh rude, boy. you got it B A D.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno and Rude journey to the farmlands of Wres while Reno struggles with something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that got so long I had to split it into two (or maybe even three) parts! I won't lie, you guys, I've had one of the most stressful and upsetting weeks of my life this week (pets, amiright?) so I've just been focusing on writing and ignoring absolutely everything else to keep myself functioning, basically. I wasn't expecting to have this chapter out for a little while longer, but hey, I really hope you enjoy it. I hope the pacing still makes sense, it's hard when you're picturing scenes from the beginning, middle and end all simultaneously. 
> 
> ANYWAY, in this chapter of dudes being bros, we are returning to Reno's POV. 
> 
> Thoughts, feedback and discussion on the characters, plot, FF7 in general, etc are ALWAYS welcome. You've all been leaving such amazing, thoughtful comments and they really brighten my day like you don't even know, thank you so much! I just sometimes go through and re-read them all again just to cheer myself up. 
> 
> You can also find me [on Twitter @AstridArrowood](https://twitter.com/AstridArrowood) too, though I'm not very active.

“Hey,” Rude breathed into Reno’s ear. “Morning.”

Reno sighed and stretched, the light stirs of waking slowly turning into full awareness. Rude’s strong, muscled arm was slung over his waist, his fingers teasing slow circles where the sheet had fallen low on his naked hips. Rude’s breath was warm on his cool skin and it sent delightful shivers fluttering up his spine. What was happening?

“You good?” Rude asked.

Reno nodded, his mouth felt dry. “Yeah.”

Reno swallowed and bit his lip in anticipation. Agonisingly, Rude didn’t make another move, content to tease his skin with the drift of his lazy fingers. Far too eager to wait for him to make a decision, Reno pressed his body back into Rude’s with a quiet moan. He could already feel the heat of Rude’s thick erection through his underwear pressing against his ass. Rude chuckled at his impatience, but ground against him, pressing his lips to Reno’s ear and travelling kisses down his jawline to his throat. It felt so real.

“Rude, please,” Reno gasped.

Their soft, sleepy bodies slowly curled around each other as Rude moved to settle between Reno’s spread legs. The slowly building friction from moving against each other was delicious yet not nearly enough. Reno moaned into Rude’s mouth as he licked it open. Their kissing and pawing at each other became more urgent and heated as-

_Brrrrrrrr-Brrrrrrrr-Brrrrrrrr_

_Brrrrrrrr-Brrrrrrrr-Brrrrrrrr_

It was a heart-stopping rush of panic that wrenched Reno from his sleep. It was the kind of fearful stab that could only come from the ringing of an unfamiliar alarm clock, for one totally confused moment sending a screaming signal of danger like a bomb siren. Reno shot up immediately, his heart beating wildly even as he dazedly realised what the noise was and began to grasp for the torturous, little mechanical device. With a growl he slapped the alarm clock hard and it bowled across the wooden floor rattling before it finally went silent.

“Holy shit,” he panted. It was barely dawn, the light in the room just enough to illuminate the furnishings as the peering sun began to tiptoe into the moon’s descending wane.

“Morning,” Rude said beside him, his voice rumbling and low with sleep.

Reno scratched his head as a flash of memory from his dream rushed at him.

_Rude’s teasing fingers._

_“Morning.”_

Did he have some kind of weird-ass dream about Rude? He cringed as the memory formed more clearly. He _had_. Only half-awake he could still feel the ghost of Rude’s hands on his body. Oh, man. He almost groaned aloud. What the hell was wrong with him…? Rude was his _friend_ , he thought guiltily. His _male_ friend.

Rude slowly sat up beside him, rubbing at his face roughly with a groan. As his breathing began to calm, Reno noticed that Rude was very much on Reno’s side of the bed. A bit close for comfort, he figured. An eyebrow raised high on his forehead, they must’ve been practically sleeping on top of each other. Maybe _that_ was why he…

Reno shook his head as if he could shake the dreamt feeling of Rude’s mouth on his throat from his mind. His face felt hot.

“We better get a move on,” Rude said, looking at him with narrowed eyes. “We need to catch the farmers before they head out.”

Reno cleared his throat. “Yeah, sure, yeah.”

“You…”

“What?”

“Nothing, just, you good?”

“Yeah, why do you keep asking?”

“I...only asked now.”

Reno froze. “Right, yeah.” He laughed shortly and it came out as strained as he felt. “No, yeah, no, no, no. I’m good, I’m good.”

“Alright.”

Rude got up without another word. As he started to rifle through the pile of clothes Reno had brought up to the room from the basement the previous day, Reno decided he should head to the bathroom to freshen up a bit. He swung his legs around and almost slid out of the bed when he stopped.

“Oh, come the fuck on,” he muttered under his breath. He had a _hard-on_. His morning had gone from awkward to humiliating and he hadn’t even been awake for five minutes yet. He seriously had morning wood after sharing a bed with his buddy like some kind of creeper? He suddenly felt uncomfortable in his own skin.

“Hm?” Rude held up a plaid shirt without turning around. “You say something?”

“Nope.” Reno would sooner throw himself out the window than let Rude notice something was suspect.

“Well? We don’t have a lot of time,” he reminded him. Rude started to strip off his night clothes. Reno looked away sharply from the broad plains of Rude’s muscular back.

Concentrate, he told himself. Think about something disgusting. In his mind he rapidly rattled off a list of the truly vilest things he could think of: the smell of rotting rodents when they died under the floorboards, crusty belly buttons, yellow toenails, that time he saw a guy pick his nose and eat it openly on the train.

He blew out his cheeks in relief. That did it. Maybe it had been a little too effective because instead of feeling vaguely aroused he felt queasy. Before he started to retch he quickly excused himself to the bathroom, slipping out of the room before Rude could pester him further.

After splashing some water on his face, brushing his teeth and running a comb through his hair, Reno felt much better. Looking at his reflection, he posed this way and that. Despite everything, he actually looked pretty good. The fresh air was doing wonders for his skin and his eyes even seemed brighter, though he wouldn’t admit it to Rude who abhorred the city air with a passion. Reno always thought Rude was deluded or being dramatic about pollution, but he was clearly onto something. His hair, however, was a different story. The texture was dry from the soap and the humidity was not doing it any favours at all. He looked a little crazy, truth be told. Without his flat-iron, gels and pomades his cut looked scruffy and bushy. He tied it back as best he could with a hair tie and shrugged at his reflection in the mirror.

As he turned to leave he stopped with his hand on the door handle. He sighed. The dream still weighed heavy on him. Try as he might he couldn’t stop the sensation of a pair of strong hands hotly caressing him and a mouth pressing against his own from echoing in his mind. Though he was horrified to admit it, it had felt incredibly good. He knew it was inappropriate since said hands and mouth had been Rude’s, but it was impossible to resist reimagining it. It had been a long time since Reno had gotten laid, he just didn't bother with it much. Sex had never really been about passion for him, it had always seemed perfunctory or obligatory. But suddenly the touch of another person, even a man, even in a _dream_ , was utterly exhilarating.

But it was just a one-off, he tried to tell himself. A fluke. He’d been sharing a bed with someone which was rare for him, Rude must’ve just shifted a little too close during the night, Reno had subconsciously felt his body heat...and he was always having loopy dreams anyway. It didn’t _mean_ anything.

 _“Rude, please.”_ His own gasping plea from the dream replayed in his mind like an assault on his senses.

“Fuck,” he said out loud.

There was a tap at the door.

“Reno?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Reno yanked the door open and stepped aside. “Can’s all yours, partner.”

Rude rolled his eyes at him. He was wearing a pair of very worn, ripped, dark denim jeans and a too-small plaid shirt that his muscles bulged under comically. Reno hadn’t really been in the right frame of mind to pay attention to it yesterday, but it was very rare to see Rude dressed so informally. Even in his off-time he tended to dress in nice slacks and shirts. The casual look and the slightly unkempt beard suited him, though. It made him look more approachable or attractive, somehow. Not _attractive_ -attractive, though, Reno reminded himself pointedly.

“How nice of you,” Rude said, stepping past him. “Luna said the farmers are waiting for us outside, so hurry up. I left some stuff lying out that might work for working in the sun.”

“What would I do without you?”

Rude closed the door on him.

Back in their shared room, Reno noticed that Rude had already neatly made the bed and, as promised, had laid out some clothes on top of it. Rummaging through the items, Reno selected a loose, white linen top with long sleeves (definitely a woman’s fit) and decided to just wear the same camouflage pants from yesterday. The big, clunky boots would be perfect for outdoor work, so he was glad to have them, even if they were a size too big.

Rude was waiting for him downstairs in the reception hall. He was petting the fat tabby cat and chatting to Luna. Luna turned to Reno as he descended, a tired smile on her face. She had obviously woken up to see them off. She was dressed in dishevelled, pink, polkadot pyjamas, her salt-and-pepper hair loose around her chin and she wore her glasses on a chain around her neck. She handed Reno a plastic box as he approached.

“There’s some food for you in there, you should eat it on the ride up. It’ll be an hour or so until you arrive in the fields, I should think.”

Reno looked at Rude, a little taken aback by the act of kindness. Rude held up his own lunchbox in answer.

“Hey, thanks. You didn’t put Wererat in this too, did you?” Reno asked slyly.

She slapped him on the arm and laughed. “Oh, you. Right, get going before they leave you.”

Reno smiled bemusedly at her as they shuffled outside into the chilly morning air. There was a single, red, beaten up looking pickup truck waiting outside the inn. The engine rumbled and the exhaust pipe popped as they approached.

“Hey, hey.” A dark skinned woman with curly, brown hair stuck her head out of the truck window. “You two our help from the big city, then?”

“That’s us,” Reno drawled.

“I guess you’ll have to do. I’m Faye. Everyone else has already left ‘cause you guys take a _long_ time to get ready. So you’re stuck with me! You’ll have to sit up in the back though ‘cause there’s no space in here. Go on then. What’re you waiting for? Climb on in.”

Unable to get a word in edgewise, they both did as they were bid and quickly hopped up into the back, shuffling around the various tools and buckets. They sat down beside each other, shoulder-to-shoulder, their backs pressing against the cool steel of the truck. It would probably make for a cold and uncomfortable ride, but there was nothing to be done about it.

“Off we go!” Reno heard Faye shout. The truck grumbled and groaned as Faye shifted into first gear and drove steadily down the dusty road, leaving Luna’s inn and the sleeping village of Wres in the distance. It wasn’t long before the sun was peeking higher in the sky, the burgeoning dawn tinged orange, red and pink. The sound of roosters crowing resonated through the hills, signalling the official start to the morning. It was a nice time to be awake, Reno thought. It felt like a little sliver of the day that was rarely seen. Well, rare for Reno to see anyway.

It wasn’t long before Rude closed his eyes and leaned back. His lunchbox breakfast remained untouched on his lap.

“You feeling carsick, Rude?” Reno asked.

Rude nodded, his mouth a thin line.

Reno wasn’t surprised. It was already a bumpy ride and would only get worse as they rode higher up the uneven, gravelly terrain. Rude tended to feel a little lousy in car journeys, especially if it was rocky, which was why Reno usually sat in the driver’s seat even though Rude hated the way he drove.

“Closing your eyes will only make it worse, y’know,” Reno said haughtily.

Rude only grunted in response. Reno patted his arm in consolation, but didn’t wait any longer to tear into his own lunchbox. He was starving. Luna had packed him a couple of salted boiled eggs, some fruit, assorted nuts and a sweet, thick bread that was a little like a waffle. It was perfect. He was half-tempted to pilfer Rude’s as well, but he’d probably get knocked upside the head once Rude started to feel better, so he resisted. By the time he snapped the empty lunchbox closed, Rude still wasn’t much in the mood for chatting, so Reno left him be and decided to doze for the rest of the ride. He was warm enough beside Rude’s bulk, and luckily he’d never had a problem with motion sickness, so a little shut-eye would do him just fine. With a satisfied sigh he crossed his arms over his chest and let his eyes slip closed.

 _CLANG-CLANG_  
  
The next thing he knew someone was banging on the side of the truck.  
  
“Come on, lover boys,” Faye called. “Wake up!”

Reno’s eyes snapped open, frozen in place by the shock of his second rude awakening of the day. It was not a good day for waking up, apparently.  
  
“Up, up, up! Come on, boys! There’s time for snoozing later. But for now, there’s work to be done.”

Reno was dazed all over again. He’d fallen much more deeply asleep than he’d intended to. He felt groggy as shit. He rubbed at his eyes as he lifted his head up from...Rude’s shoulder. He jerked as he realised. He’d fallen asleep on Rude’s shoulder. There was even a patch of drool on his plaid shirt. From the way Rude was blinking, and the angle he was rubbing his neck at, he’d fallen asleep on top of Reno as well. No wonder Faye was heckling them. He cringed, embarrassed all over again. It was not a good day for waking up, and it was not a good day for appropriate levels of contact with colleagues apparently, either.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Rude stretched, oblivious to Reno’s discomfort.

“I feel better now,” Rude yawned and picked up his lunchbox. “You didn’t eat mine as well, did you?”

“You really think that little of me?” Reno said, mock-aghast.

Rude gave him a sidelong glance as he popped it open. Finding it full and untouched, he nodded.

“I stand corrected.”

“Damn straight you do.”

Reno stood, a little wobbly on his feet after sitting down for so long. He stretched his body as long and tall as he could, groaning overly loudly in gratification.

“So noisy,” Rude chastised, looking up at him with a strange look in his eyes.

Reno smirked at him. Feeling bold, he leaned down and pinched a slice of apple from Rude’s lunchbox before he could stop him. Rude tutted, swatting and kicking at him.

“Asshole.”

Reno grinned and vaulted out of the truck. After swallowing the piece of fruit, he took a deep breath of fresh air as he looked around at the scenery. They were in some kind of orchard, he realised. The trees were short, but full, thick and heavy with some kind of fruit that Reno didn’t recognise. The spanse of it seemed to go on for miles, just lush fields, greenery and wildflowers as far as the eye could see. Reno was no stranger to travelling in their job, but it usually involved helicopters, long car rides, alleyway dealings and dark rooms. It was a scarce thing when he had the chance to stop and enjoy the life and nature of what other places outside Midgar had to offer. It was beautiful, really. He wiped the sweat from his brow with a grimace. Pretty though it was, it was far too hot for him, it felt like the heat was prickling under his skin already.

“Oh, look,” Rude said, arriving at his side. “Potato trees.”

Reno’s mouth twisted as he tried not to laugh. “Ah, shut up. _Asshole_.”

Rude smirked, his eyes warm with amusement.

“You two sleeping beauties finally decided to join us, eh?” Faye said as she emerged from a small hut near the truck.

Out of the truck and standing in front of them, Reno could see that Faye was the kind of woman that would probably have made a good candidate for SOLDIER, if he were still scouting. While she was petite and pretty, she was impressively muscled. Reno wouldn't have been at all surprised if she could lift him over her head. Her densely coiled hair framed her heart-shaped, freckled face which was unfortunately contorted with a scowl as she clocked him checking her out. Reno only smirked back at her. He liked her already.

“What do you need us to do?” Rude asked.

“Oh, don’t worry, we have plenty for you to do. Luna said you know how to knock a beast around. That true?”

Reno pretended to examine his fingernails. “Please, anything you have around here is small-fry compared to what we normally deal with. We’re beast-knockin’ professionals.”

Faye looked unimpressed. “Is that so? Well, there’s a big one been hassling us out in the fields to the north. Could do with some _professionals_ to help us take it down, if you’re up to it, that is.”

“Is that all?” Reno droned.

Faye scoffed. “If you’re alive after that, we’ll see. We never say no to an extra pair of hands around here. I need to drop off these tools for the crew here, then I’ll drive us to the north. Do you need weapons?”

“Not me,” said Rude.

Faye looked at him appraisingly. “And you?”

“What do you got?” Reno asked.

“A little of this and that. Might even have some Materia knocking around if you know how to use it.”

“Know how to use it? I’m a Materia Master, toots,” he lied.

Rude rolled his eyes at him.

“I’m sure you are. It’s all in that hut, so help yourself. Make sure you’re warmed up before we head out, I can’t be bothered to carry your dead asses back to Midgar.”

She left them with a withering glance, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Reno shrugged at Rude. “I’m gonna go see what they have. Hold tight.”

“If you even _think_ about coming back out here with a sword…” Rude warned him.

“I can use a sword,” Reno protested.

“No. No, you can _not_.”

Reno flipped him off as he sauntered into the hut.

The hut was dark, dank and smelled vaguely of dirt. While Reno hadn’t expected much, there really wasn’t a lot on offer on the shelves. The little Materia available was fairly low quality, but there was a weak lightning one that was certainly better than nothing, and it was one of the few that Reno was actually gifted with. There was an assortment of knives, axes and scythes but Rude was right, and Reno didn’t really trust himself with blades. At the speed he moved with his lanky limbs he was much likely to slice himself than an enemy. There was a whip that Reno was honestly tempted to walk out with just to see Rude’s face, but he put that back as well. Just as he was about to walk away empty handed he noticed a sturdy-looking staff propped up against the wall. He picked it up with both hands. It was light enough for him to use while moving quickly, and would probably do some decent damage if he could land a clever hit. It was a little long for him, but it was worth a shot.

Rude gave him an odd look when he walked out with it.

“A staff?” he said with a smirk. “For real?”

“For real, man. Look!” He flipped it behind him along his back, snatched and twirled it around overhead.

“Wow,” Rude said deadpan. “You’re an advanced baton twirler now.”

“Shut up, it’s cool.”

“It’s really not. Staves are meant for magic, you can’t just run around bonking people on the head with them.”

“Watch me.”

Rude chuckled. “You have to get some practice in then. Come on.”

Reno didn’t want to warm up, he would have rathered relaxing on the grass until Faye returned. But Rude insisted, dragging him to a shaded part of the orchard, away from the workers dotted around on ladders plucking the fruit from the branches.

“Rules as usual,” Rude said as he pulled his leather gloves from the back of his jean pockets.

“Oh, you mean business, huh?”

“I always do when it comes to you,” Rude replied, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Reno hummed. “That’s fair. I am better than you, after all.”

“We’ll see. I’ve got money on you tripping yourself up with that thing.”

“Hah, let’s go then!”

Rude got into his stance. Barely a breath had passed from his lips when Reno pelted towards him like a piece of snapped elastic. The length of the staff was much trickier to maneuver than his usual rod, but Rude wasn’t prepared for his sudden burst of speed. Reno was easily able to get behind him and twist himself awkwardly to whap the staff against the back of Rude’s knees, flooring him immediately.

“Who’s tripping up now?” Reno taunted.

Rude said nothing, but got back onto his feet, rolling his neck. Reno sneered at him. They rounded each other slowly, both keenly watching for any minute change in movement or stance to indicate their next attack. Sparring with Rude was a challenge for Reno. Rude knew him well and for each move he had, Rude had seen the start, middle and end literally thousands of times before. It had to be similar for Rude, though, Reno imagined. Reno knew Rude’s fighting style almost better than he knew his own. A heel twist, a lunge, a tenseness in his left leg, they all meant something and Reno knew exactly what.

They did several more intense rounds, Reno winning a couple more due to his unpredictability with the staff, then Rude won three in a row after he knew what to expect and Reno’s swiftness no longer guaranteed him the advantage he needed.

“Getting tired, yet?” Reno called on their seventh round.

“Do I look it?”

They both moved simultaneously. Reno already knew from the distance that Rude was going to try to throw him. Reno tried to bait him, but as he swiped upwards with the staff it got stuck on a tree root poking out of the ground. Precious milliseconds wasted, he tried instead to sidestep Rude as he barrelled towards him but he stumbled over the caught staff, and stepped on his own foot. The next thing he knew he was dazed and looking up at the sky as Rude tackled him backwards onto the thick grass with ease.

Using his whole body, Rude pinned him down, squeezing his wrists until Reno cried out angrily and released the staff from his grasp. His legs were locked in place and without the staff in his hand, he couldn’t use the Materia. He cursed, and tried to throw Rude off of him violently, but it was impossible. Rude had him beat in strength and weight by a long way. All he accomplished by wriggling like a worm underneath him was baring his midriff as his shirt rolled up.

A short, warm laugh escaped Rude. “Knew you’d trip over that thing.”

“Fuck you,” Reno spat and writhed again. If he could just get one leg free...

“Yield, Reno,” Rude said lowly, his breathing laboured as he loomed over him.

Reno squirmed again, pushing to see if there was any room for a flexible escape. Rude laid on him further, his whole lower body pressed against him to hold Reno down, He moved his pinned wrists above his head far away from the reach of the staff. Reno panted, furious.

“I said, _yield_.”

Reno looked up at him. Rude’s cheeks were flushed and his pupils were dilated. They stared at each other, breathing heavily. Full of rebellious energy, Reno tried to shift again, grinding upwards, moving his whole body flush against Rude’s. Rude swallowed, and his smirk flickered as he struggled to keep Reno pinned, but he didn’t relent and held him down securely. Rude waited patiently for Reno to give in, but there was something different in the air, a simmering heat, a tautness that felt like it was about to be seared apart.

“Reno,” Rude exhaled, an edge to his voice. Reno locked eyes with him.

_Thrusting against each other, roving hands, Reno’s spreading legs, gasping into Rude’s mouth with desperate kisses. “Please, Rude,” he gasped._

Oh, fuck. Reno went stiff, the memory flooding his senses again. He flushed from his head to his toes.

“Okay, okay, okay,” he said panickedly, something very unwanted beginning to stir within him. “I yield, I yield.”

Rude grinned. “Oh? What was that? I didn’t quite hear you,” he teased.

“I said I fucking yield, okay, now get the _fuck off me_!”

Rude must’ve realised Reno wasn’t kidding around because he released his grip and got up straight away, the humour gone from his expression. Reno scrambled to his feet, rubbing his wrists.

Rude looked worried. “You okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I’m fine, man. I’m not hurt,” he growled. He kicked the staff on the grass. Hopefully Rude would just figure Reno was being his usual, bad loser self.

“Okay,” Rude said, sounding disappointed. “You gonna bring the staff? You were pretty good with it.”

Reno didn’t say anything.

In the distance Faye shouted. “Oi! It’s time!”

“We’d better go,” Reno said, picking up the staff. “Let’s go slay us a beastie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did someone order some UST for breakfast? 
> 
> just dudes being guys having homoerotic dreams and snuggling and doing some sexy wrestling amongst the flowers, nbd. poor reno is having a little bit of a crisis.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rude and Reno assist Faye with her beast problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, it's been a while. I can only apologise to those who were expecting a new chapter a lot sooner than this. I don't really have a good excuse. I fell out of love with the fandom for a time and it affected my general mood towards writing. I'm a bit more in the flow of things again, so I hope to have more regular updates now. 
> 
> This chapter is, yet again, a split chapter. I want to avoid posting overly long chapters so I can have a conversation with readers in the comments about the mood and where the story is going. But I apologise if it seems too short or if it's frustrating. 
> 
> You can also find me [on Twitter @AstridArrowood](https://twitter.com/AstridArrowood) too.

The truck ride to the northern fields where Faye had said the troublesome beast normally prowled was _much_ more unpleasant than the ride out of Wres village had been. Rude tried to keep his discomfort to himself, but he was keenly aware of Reno’s eyes intermittently darting towards him. Rude groaned softly. He shouldn’t have eaten the breakfast box from Luna, it had given his weak stomach the stodgy ammunition it needed for a full assault launch. If he’d known they would be jumping back into the truck, he wouldn’t have scarfed it down so fast.

“I swear, if you hurl on me-” Reno said under his breath.

“I’m not gonna hurl,” Rude snapped back.

“Oh, really? ‘Cause you sure as hell _look_ like you’re gonna hurl.”

“I’m not gonna hurl, Reno. Will you shut up?”

“Are you sure? I really don’t want half-digested egg bits all over me.”

Holy _fuck_ , Rude thought, grinding his teeth. He breathed slowly through his nose to regain his composure.

“If you fucking keep talking about it, then yeah, I _might_ hurl. If you shut your trap, I probably won’t. Now shut the fuck up.”

“Jeez, okay, okay.” Reno held his hands up in the air and rolled his eyes at him. “So touchy.”

Honestly, he could be an insufferable jackass sometimes, Rude thought. He fixed his eyes on a spot over the horizon as the truck puttered and groaned over the hills. Ordinarily he might have paused to enjoy the scenery, but he felt too vile to admire anything. It wasn’t long before they began a slow drive over a particularly unstable piece of terrain, the bouncing and jiggling side-to-side left him breathing long and steady to keep the nausea at bay. Mind over matter, he repeated to himself like a mantra as his stomach lurched. Reno patted his arm reassuringly. He appreciated it, but didn’t say anything.

Rude could tell that Reno was in a weird mood again. He was all over the place, jittery and nervous. It wasn’t an angry, sharp energy like he’d been emanating yesterday, instead he was like the soda in a can that had been shaken up so hard the tab was practically straining to burst. It was a little new. Reno wasn’t usually hyperactive, for lack of a better word. He tended to be lazy and lethargic like a satisfied, fat cat that had played with the canary before he’d eaten it. Rude snuck a sidelong at him. He was chewing on his thumbnail again, his bended leg bouncing.

“You’re acting weird today,” he said, tired of navigating Reno’s bullshit after yesterday.

“Who, me? I’m fine.” Reno dropped the hand he was biting at.

“I didn’t say you weren’t fine, I said you were _weird_.”

Reno shrugged and refused to look at him. “You’re just imagining it, man.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so, asshole.”

Rude punched him on the arm. Reno winced and punched him back. They stared at each other until they both grinned.

At last the truck came to a rumbling stop. Rude hopped out immediately, grateful to have stopped swaying and to be standing on solid ground. Faye appeared at his side, a shotgun slung over her shoulder, and holding a bottle of water which she offered to Rude. He took it gratefully and glugged it down.

“You okay? You look a little peaky,” she asked.

Rude nodded in between sips. “Yeah, road travel doesn’t always agree with me, but I’m fine.”

Faye cocked her head. “A big, tough looking guy like you? I didn’t think a _professional_ monster slayer would be so delicate.”

Rude chuckled quietly. “I think that’s the first time anyone has ever called me delicate.”

Faye smirked, mischief dancing in her brown eyes. “You’ll have to prove me wrong, then.”

“Oh, I will. Don’t worry about me, you just focus on aiming that thing.” He gestured to the gun.

Faye laughed. “You don’t know me, so I’ll let that one slide. But I never miss my shot.”

Rude cocked an eyebrow at her.

Suddenly, Reno banged his staff off the side of the truck, startling them both.

“We just gonna fucking stand around all day chatting shit, or are we actually going to hunt this beast down?” he growled, his narrowed eyes looking between them both.

“Yeah, let’s go hunting,” Faye said, nonplussed. “The tracks should be easy to spot.”

Rude gave Reno a questioning look as he walked past him, but Reno kept silent.

Faye led the way as they trekked through an overgrown field, the long blades of grass and wild flowers tickling his skin through the rips in the worn jeans he’d borrowed. The warm sun and light breeze was a delight now that he was out of the truck and he sighed into it, closing his eyes for a moment. It wasn’t a long walk before the scattered trees became denser and they found themselves in a lush woodland. The sun had been glaring high in the sky when they’d left the truck, but gradually as they walked under the shade of the thickening woods, the light only peppered through the leaves and branches. It was serene; the quiet, the birdsong, the snapping of fallen twigs and branches under their boots.

Rude looked back at Reno. He looked relaxed, swinging his staff, and his long limbs loose again. Whatever niggling tension that had been simmering between them since the morning was apparently gone for the moment. The contrast of his hair and skin and eyes was striking in the speckled sunlight and green backdrop of the woods. For a city boy, the fresh air and nature seemed to be agreeing with Reno. Reno caught him looking and cocked an eyebrow at him. Rude looked away.

Faye seemed to know where she was going, stopping only occasionally to examine a dent in some hedges, a broken stump or a paw mark in the mud. Rude was a gifted investigator, he was able to track people and monsters with ease, but Faye noticed things that Rude wouldn’t have looked twice at. It was impressive. After a time Faye took a left and led them out of the forest and up a grassy hillside that overlooked a vista.

“There,” Faye hissed, pointing.

She needn’t have pointed at all. It was impossible not to notice the great Behemoth gnawing on an animal carcass in the short drop below them. Its thick hide was a combination of blood-soaked, matted, magenta fur and massive, protracted spikes that stood along its spine and tail-end. While it wasn’t the biggest Rude had ever seen, it was still substantially bigger than he’d been expecting. With the Wererats and the Behemoth, Rude started to wonder what the hell was in the water around here.

“Woah,” Reno said beside him.

“You sure you can take it?” Faye asked, not teasing this time. “It’s killed a few of our boys now.”

Reno looked at Rude and he nodded.

“Yeah, we got it. Easy peasy. You gonna be joining us?”

Faye patted her shotgun lovingly. “Sure am.”

“Okay, then listen up.”

Rude was glad that Faye was as clever as she seemed. She nodded along to Reno’s plan of attack, taking it all in avidly. Rude was already familiar with it, it was a maneuver they’d done many times. Reno’s confidence was infectious and Rude found himself eager to get started.

While the Behemoth was preoccupied with filling its belly, they split up. They slid down the slope still a good distance away, slinking up to take up a different side of the beast before hiding strategically. Rude waited for the signal patiently, crouching behind a grassy knoll, he could see Reno to his left behind some rocks, Faye on the right in the bushes. Rude adjusted his gloves and evened out his breaths. This would be tough, no doubt, but doable. He heard Reno make a bird call, and the fight began.

Reno shot in first from behind the Behemoth using a Lightning spell that Rude hadn’t even known he’d had equipped. The spell seemed weak, but it was enough to startle the beast significantly. It roared and staggered, looking this way and that to find the source of whatever dared to attack it. As planned, Rude used the distraction to throw his own magic into his fist, and punched into the ground to create a shaking wave of earth and raw power that bowled forwards, sending the beast off its feet in a spray of dust and rock.

Reno whooped. Rude smirked at him.

They took the opportunity to surround the Behemoth more tightly. As it clumsily regained balance, Faye shot at it before darting behind a rock to reload and repeat. It roared as it finally understood what was happening, the rage and intent to kill clear as it used its massive hind legs to throw dirt into the air and stampede towards Rude. Rude leapt and ran to a tree as it followed, using the trunk as leverage to punt himself into the air and deliver a spinning kick to the beast’s jaw.

The fight became more of a near thing than Rude had expected. He was forced to dive long and fast multiple times to avoid being mangled as the beast was furiously strong. It moved fast, its thick tail whipped around dangerously to protect itself from the rear as its great jaws snapped, and claws as thick as his wrist reached for his flesh from the front. It wasn’t long before all three of them were covered in scrapes, bruises and wounds, panting hard from exertion and all calling for a Cure spell from Rude which he cast as readily as he could.

As they fought, Reno ended up snapping the staff into two sharp stakes, poking and stabbing at the beast where he could. Like a flash, he danced around it, creating lightning and confusion with each step he took. When he caught a chance, Reno leaped along the Behemoth’s spiny tail and up its back. At the same time, it reared as Faye shot it directly in the face. Reno only just managed to jab a stake into one of its yellow eyes. It shrieked a horrible, agonised sound and bucked Reno from its back, hurling him high into the air. With a sickening thud Reno landed hard onto the ground in a cloud of dust, dazed and winded from the force of it.

The beast rounded on Reno instantly, its tail catching him in the side and sending him skidding further away from them as he struggled to get to his feet again. Rude pelted forwards before the beast could make another move. He reared his arm back and let a punch loose into the Behemoth’s ribs. The power behind it was more than even he’d anticipated and he felt the ribs cave in under his fist like they were peanut shells. The shock felled it off its feet, into the air until it collapsed in a broken heap twenty feet away. It let loose one last foul whining breath before it went limp.

It was done, they’d done it. He could scarcely believe it.

He could hear Faye cheering. Rude almost laughed in relief. There was nothing quite like the feeling of elation after downing a massive, rampaging beast that, by all rights, should have smashed his flimsy, human body to a pulp. For one moment he felt impossibly strong and powerful, like the air he breathed was a gift given specially to him by the planet. He stretched out his arms as he fought back a wide grin. He felt good, full of vigour. The victory was heady.

“Rude,” he heard Reno say behind him.

“Reno, good work,” he said, turning back to him. “Those sticks were a good id-”

He stopped suddenly mid-word. Something was wrong. Reno was unsteady on his feet and breathing oddly. His chest began to heave and his back convulsed as he appeared to struggle to pull in enough air.

“Reno?”

Stumbling, Reno hunched over and vomited. The remaining piece of staff fell from his grip with a clatter onto the ground as his hands patted desperately at his chest. He was hyperventilating.

“Reno!” Rude called, bolting towards him. Rude made it just time, skidding into the dust to catch him in his arms as Reno collapsed like a house of cards. Rude lowered him down gently. Reno looked up at him with an angry panic in his eyes as he panted, the breath hitching and catching painfully.

“H-hey. I...d...don’t...feel too...hot…” he wheezed.

“Don’t talk, idiot.”

Rude gasped and he pulled back in alarm as a sudden, spidery, blue rash began to crawl its way rapidly over every visible part of Reno’s skin as though his veins were being repelled by his body.

“Shit,” he hissed.

“W-where...it’s...p-poi...” Reno said dazedly between gasps. His eyes unfocussed and drifted closed.

Poi...poison. Reno was poisoned. Rude was paralysed by his own panic as he realised. Reno was very allergic to most Beast’s venom.

“Fuck. Reno, come on, wake up.” When he didn’t stir, Rude grabbed the neck of the thin, linen shirt and effortlessly tore it from Reno’s limp body looking for the wound. His chest and arms were clear, although the rash was a dark, foul purple along his lower torso. Rude flipped Reno over, regrettably shoving his face into the dirt, but he could apologise for that later. Hopefully.

There it was.

It was an open wound on his flank that hissed and bubbled as a black, viscous ooze leaked from it.

“Faye!” Rude shouted as loud as he could. Using the remnants of Reno’s shirt, he tried to wipe away some of the gunk on his reddening flesh. He gasped sharply as it burned his hand. He heard Faye’s boots crunching in the dirt as she ran towards them. He quickly tied a tourniquet around Reno’s waist using the last of the shirt to keep pressure on the wound.

“What the hell happened to him?” Faye asked shrilly.

“He’s poisoned. It’s bad. Do you have any Antidotes with you, or a Cleansing Materia?”  
  
“A _what_ Materia? No. Heck no. We don’t have anything that fancy here. Are you sure it’s poison? Male Behemoths aren’t supposed to be venomous.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Rude snapped, losing patience. “They don’t carry it in their teeth, but they do in their tail spikes. He got hit with it towards the end.” He was running dangerously low on energy after the fight, but he cast a Curing spell on Reno anyway. Reno moaned weakly, coming to a bleary consciousness.

“Hey, p-partner,” he warbled. “Lookin’ good, yo. Beers...on me.” He instantly started to wheeze again.

“Shit, Rude. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think we’d need anything like that. I don’t have anything with me. I’m so, so sorry.” She sounded like she was about to cry.

“Don't apologise. Think. What’s the solution?”

She paused for a moment before gasping. “Asako. She lives out this way. She’ll have something!”

“How far?”

“Not far, we can make it.” She hesitated. “Do you have another one of those spells in you?”

Rude’s vision was already swimming. “Yeah.” He grabbed Reno’s hand. “Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeek, poor reno. guy can't catch a break! Next chapter is almost finished so it shouldn't be too long (where have I said that before?).
> 
> Thoughts, feedback and discussion on the characters, plot, FF7 in general, etc are ALWAYS welcome. You've all been leaving such amazing, thoughtful comments and they really make my day, thank you so much! I just sometimes go through and re-read them all again just to cheer myself up. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Reno in death's grip, Rude has to think fast to save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday! I hope having two chapters in a week make up for the long as heck absence from this fic. I wanted to wait a full week to spread it out a bit more because it might be a longer wait until I complete Chapter 8 (although I am doing nanowrimo so fingers crossed), but I just can't re-read and edit this one more time. I will go absolutely insane if I keep changing things. As much fun as it is to write it is very easy to fall into the trap of overediting yourself into purple prose, lol. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, please consider leaving a review with your feedback because it really is invaluable to me! You can also find me [on Twitter @AstridArrowood](https://twitter.com/AstridArrowood) too.

“Rude…”  
  
“Reno…”

Rude looked on, helpless, as Reno cried out wordlessly. He convulsed with another agonised jolt as the poison wreaked havoc on his body. Rude gripped his hand hard, at a loss for what to do next. The venom alone would be rotting Reno’s insides, but his allergy to it was closing his airways, making it difficult for him to breathe. To make matters worse they were in the middle of nowhere with no time to spare and no medicine on hand. Rude knew this was bad, really bad.

_Think. Breathe. Decide._

Reno ground his teeth together as he seized, he clenched Rude’s shirt so tightly his knuckles were white.

“Faye, go! _Now_! You have to drive the truck back out to us!” Rude barked. “We’ll go to this woman, but you'll really have to step on it. It’s his only chance.” Faye nodded and went unquestioningly, sprinting fast like her life depended on it back the way they’d come.

Unable to just sit and watch Reno suffer while they waited, Rude decided next that they had to move, too.

“Come on, Reno. Let’s go.”

“Where...are w-we? The...fuck...can’t...b-breathe.”

Rude didn’t answer him. He picked him up under his knees and back, holding him close to his chest as he stood upright. He could carry him to meet Faye’s truck and save them a little more time. Maybe it was pointless, but his helplessness was gnawing unbearably at him already. It was the only thing he could think to do to stay calm.

Reno wasn’t heavy, but nevertheless it was a strenuous climb back up the steep hill towards the woods. He could feel beads of sweat on his forehead forming before they reached the top. He was grateful for the now cloudy sky and increasing winds. Although it was probably going to rain soon, he thought. He prayed that wouldn’t hinder them further.

“You’re good, I got you. Just stay calm. Keep breathing,” he said, perhaps more to himself than to Reno.

“What...the fuck, m-man?” Reno slurred. He fought to keep his head up and failed. “What’s...happening?” He was confused.

“We’re with Faye, remember? You got poisoned, but you’re going to be fine. Just stay awake.”

“Faye…” Reno said. “You and...she…you guys...”

“Us guys what?”

“You’d...make...a good...p-power couple. Man. K-kick...some ass.”

“A what?”

Reno was silent, but he tensed up, his body jerking as pain overtook him again.

Just keep walking, he told himself. _Don’t stop_.

Faye met them halfway with the truck just on the outskirts of the woods they’d come through earlier that day. There were so many branches, leaves and bushes tangled up in the wheels, grille and wiper blades it almost looked camouflaged. Rude maneuvered he and Reno both into the back of the truck gracelessly, and banged on the roof.

“Go!” he shouted. Faye slammed her foot on the pedal, speeding onwards as fast as the shitty, little truck would go.

“Fuck. Shit,” Reno breathed in between coughs and desperate breaths. “Rude, I-”  
  
“Don’t try to talk. Focus on breathing. In...Out...In...Out.”

Reno gasped helplessly, looking up at Rude with fear in his eyes. His skin was so pale it was almost blue. Rude felt paralysed by his own uselessness. Why hadn’t he thought to bring medical supplies with them? He was so angry at himself he wanted to punch something.  
  
“This...might...be it.” Reno said, his eyes unfoccusing. His voice was little more than a wheeze. “It was...hella good...working with...you, p-partner.”

“Hey, shut up, idiot. You’re not going anywhere.” Rude said sharply. “Stay with me. Reno!”

Reno looked like he was fighting to stay conscious, but after a moment his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp once again. Rude shook him roughly, but he didn't rouse.

“ _Reno_! Faye, how far?” he called out.

“It’s close!” she screamed back.

They drove over a rocky hill, sending them high in the air before they landed back to the earth with a crash that nearly threw Rude from the truck. He clung to Reno tightly and looked down at him. Rude noticed his lips were turning blue and time stood still. The reality of what was happening flooded his senses, making him dizzy as though the ground was falling away from underneath him. It wasn’t real. It couldn't be.  
  
In the same second he made a decision. It was dangerous, but he knew he had no other choice. Rude cast another Cure spell. He felt the magical energy being ripped from the reserves of his soul, as painful and horrible as if a tendon had been pried from his body. It nearly floored him. There was a ringing in his ears and his vision blurred as he fought to stay conscious. He swallowed back bile in his throat as his body rebelled against his recklessness. However, despite his efforts, there seemed to be little change in Reno. Rude checked his pulse. It was slow. He put his hand on his mouth, and felt small puffs of breath against the back of it. He’d bought them some time, but he had no idea if it would be enough. Rude felt like he was about to explode out of his skin with the intensity of his fear.

“Reno, come on, come on,” Rude muttered like a mantra. “You’re not dying here, you little, punk shithead. Do you hear me?”

“We’re here, we’re here!” Faye shouted.

They skidded up to a small, rickety looking cottage with a hard squeak of the breaks that nearly sent Rude flying from the truck again. A woman with long, black hair and round glasses came out, her dark eyes wide at all the commotion.

“Antidotes! Medicines! _Quick_!” Faye shouted without waiting. She slammed the truck door shut behind her. “Asako, please tell me you have some. I got these city boys into a fight with the Behemoth and one got hurt.”

The bottom fell out of Rude’s stomach. He hadn’t truly considered that this woman might not even have anything that could help them. He felt unfairly angry at Faye all of a sudden. Why didn’t these backwater idiots know to carry medicine on them? Reno was fading, there was nothing he could do to help him, and it was all _their_ fault.

“Oh, uh, I’m not s-” Asako started to say.

“Go look for something! _Now_!” Rude shouted. The woman jumped at the anger in his voice, which Rude would later feel guilty about, but he couldn’t have cared less at that moment. She scurried back into the house in a flurry with Faye in tow. Rude could hear a cacophony of wooden cabinets and drawers being torn open, pots and pans clanging, and objects clattering as who knew what was scattered across the floor in their desperate search.

Carrying Reno, Rude waddled inside and didn’t wait for permission to lay him on the solid wooden table in the centre of the upended kitchen. Whether it was from the speedy drive in the wind, the disease tearing through his body, or the reach of death’s claws, Reno was incredibly cold to the touch.

He couldn’t bear to ask Faye or Asako if they had found something yet. Instead, he pressed his ear to Reno’s chest to listen to his heartbeat. It was erratic and weak.

“Here, here, here!” Asako called as she came running to the table holding several bottles. “This will help.” Rude could have kissed her on the mouth. Instead he wrenched the items from her grasp.  
  
“He’s unconscious. Help me sit him up,” he said.

The three of them together helped to prop up Reno’s limp body, tilting his head back to drip the various medicines into his mouth. His head lolled uselessly on Rude’s shoulder as it dribbled down his face.

“Swallow it, Reno. Come on, partner,” Rude said, slapping at his cheeks. After an agonising moment, Reno began to choke and cough around the liquid, his body wracking with ugly splutters. Asako tipped some more into his mouth. It wasn’t a short process, but it was working. Although Reno drifted in and out of bleary awareness as they worked, the wound on his flank started to heal, and the rash became less painfully stark across his pale body. Most importantly his distressed hitches of breath slowly transformed into more regular breathing.

“Again, Reno.” A second bottle, then a third. They were powerful magical items. Back in Midgar, they were fairly commonplace, but in this remote area of the world it was likely all Asako had for herself for absolute emergencies. Rude would pay her back, he didn’t care what the cost was if it saved his stupid friend.

“U-ugh,” Reno moaned. “Oh, m-man. Shit. F-fuck.” His cursing was music to Rude’s ears. He patted him roughly on the back.

“Just a little more,” he said. “Come on, you got this.”   
  
Barely able to keep his eyes open, Reno still did as Rude bade him and finished the last bottle. He seized in Rude’s arms as the medicine did its work. He grunted and groaned through his clenched teeth as, even in the grips of death, Reno tried to maintain his composure. Finally he stopped jerking in pain, though his body still trembled from the aftershocks of the ordeal. His breath was shaky, but deep. Rude nodded to the two women, and they both breathed a sigh of relief. It was over.   
  
“Let’s give them a moment,” Faye said. She wiped her brow and blew out her cheeks. Asako nodded and they left the room.

Content that Reno was breathing well enough, Rude lay him back down on the table.

“Holy fuck, what the f-fuck…” Reno said groggily. Rude ignored him to check the wound on his back. It still looked painful, but it had closed and was no longer seeping black liquid or blood. If they were lucky it would leave only a very thin, pink scar by the morning.  
  
“You got poisoned.” Rude said. “You almost died.”

“Yeah? No s-shit.”  
  
“What was that you said before? Easy peasy, huh?”

“D-dammit. Shut up.”

Rude laughed lowly, he felt giddy with relief. He could let go of the breath he’d been holding at last. Reno groaned and passed out again.  
  
\--

Asako’s house was modest and rustic. It was filled with odd little items that some people might have seen as a symptom of being a hoarder, but it was all clearly loved, collected carefully and needed in some way. There were dried flowers and herbs tied with twine all over the kitchen walls, balls of yarn on the floor, lots of half-filled teacups lying around, and every corner, shelf and table was covered in books. She also seemed painfully shy. She was unable to look Rude in the eye, and he had to strain himself to hear her properly when she spoke. She fumbled with her dark, long skirt and blinked hard when she asked if they would like something to eat. Rude was in no rush to jostle a poorly Reno back into the truck so he nodded with thanks.

It was dark outside by the time the room was full of the smell of a hearty, meat stew bubbling on the stove. By then Reno had come round again, and was apparently feeling himself enough to complain about how gross he felt. Rude left Faye and Asako chopping up some vegetables to lead Reno to the bathroom upstairs. Although he was forced to practically carry him as his knees buckled more than once.

The bathroom itself wasn’t very well equipped; there wasn’t a shower, but there was a sink and plenty of soap and cloths to wash themselves with. They were both covered in blood, dust, ooze and who knew what else, so it was certainly better than nothing. Rude batted the (frankly too many) hanging plants out of the way while Reno sat on the closed toilet seat, half-naked and shivering. Rude twisted the hot water tap on and took his ruined shirt off as he waited for it to heat up. Reno looked small, hunched over with his elbows on his knees. It was as though he was defeated in mind and spirit as well as body. It was unnatural, it made Rude want to shake him to see him animated once again. Between the car crash, the Wererats, the revelations from yesterday and the drama of today Rude wholeheartedly longed for just a little normalcy, some peace and quiet where he could listen to Reno’s dirty jokes over a beer and watch him count pennies for a measly tip. Being a Turk was dangerous, of course, but rarely so consecutively in one week. He was tired.

“Thanks, man,” Reno said as he accepted the soapy washcloth from Rude. He started to wipe himself down, running the cloth haphazardly over his neck and arms.

“Hey, so. What h-happened to my s-shirt?” he asked.

“I had to tear it off you,” Rude admitted.

“Oh, h-how manly.”  
  
Rude hesitated then flexed. Reno choked back a surprised laugh then grimaced as another aftershock from the poison hit him.  
  
“Man, I f-feel so shitty,” he said, looking miserable.

The rain that had threatened them before seemed to be in full flow now. They washed themselves down perfunctorily and in silence as it pattered off the bathroom skylight. Rude subtly stood in front of the mirror whenever Reno came to the sink to wring out and re-soap his cloth. He was going to flip his shit when he saw the state of his rash covered face.

Rude was finishing up when he caught Reno wincing as he tried to twist at the waist to clean his wound.

“Man, I can’t,” Reno almost sobbed. “F-fuck this shit.”

“Here, let me,” Rude said. He took the cloth from Reno’s limp grip and soaped it up again. He drew up behind him and put his hands on Reno’s hips to hold him still. Reno’s trim waist fit easily in his grip, he noticed. His skin was very soft.

“This’ll sting,” he said.

Reno flinched when the soap first made contact with the wound, but that was the last of his complaints. Rude finished up with a little antiseptic lotion Asako had given him.  
  
“All set,” he said, pulling back to rinse the cloth out.  
  
“Thanks…” Reno said, turning to face him.

Rude waved it off in response.

“I mean it though,” Reno repeated. “Thanks...Got my ass beat again, didn’t I? Wouldn’t have made it without you.”

“Don’t mention it. We have each other’s back. You’d do the same for me.”  
  
“Shit, yeah, I would.”  
  
“Hm. Not gonna lie though, Reno,” Rude started with a sigh. Unthinkingly, he squeezed out the cloth again and dabbed it gently over Reno’s cheek where he’d missed a spot. “I’m getting real sick of watching you almost die. I need you, partner.” He trailed the cloth downwards to cup his jaw. “More than...more than you know.”  
  
“Rude…”  
  
Reno was very still, his blue eyes wide. His lips parted and Rude swallowed, his gaze drifting to watch Reno wet the plush of his lower lip. They were very close, yet Rude inched closer still, his hand falling away from Reno’s face. They stared at each other, the quiet between them roaring. Reno’s cool hands travelled up his forearms, the scrape of his nails against his skin made every hair on his body stand on end. Rude bent his head before he even knew he was doing it. Reno’s tilted upwards.

“Reno…” he breathed.  
  
Suddenly there was a short, timid knock at the door and they sprung apart from each other like the other was on fire. Rude bashed his head off a hanging plant and swore.  
  
“H-hello.” Asako’s head peeped around the edge of the door. “I have these. I thought you might want them.” She passed Rude two thick sweaters.

“Thank you, yes.” He cleared his throat, feeling himself flush from his head to his toes. “Great, thanks, thank you. This is...yeah, great. Thanks.”

“Okay, dinner's almost ready,” she said before leaving.  
  
“Great, thank you.”

Rude watched her walk down the hall and swallowed a lump in his throat. He turned back to Reno, holding the two sweaters out stupidly.  
  
“Uh, sweaters,” he said, even more stupidly.

“Yeah, great, good,” Reno said, louder than necessary. He yanked one from Rude’s hands. “Sweaters are great.”  
  
“They...sure are.”

Rude numbly pulled on the dark blue, scratchy sweater left in his hands. What had almost happened just before Asako walked into the room, he thought in abject horror. He was frozen in place while Reno pulled on a large grey sweater and rolled up the sleeves several times. Rude was still trying to remember how to blink normally when Reno turned to look at his own reflection.

Reno gasped. “Oh, w-what the _fuck_?” he said, pawing at the purple, spidery rash over his face and throat in the mirror. “The h-hell is this? Why didn’t you say a-anything?” he snapped.

Rude unfroze after a second and shrugged. “It’ll be gone by the morning.”

“It f-fucking better be. Holy hell, I _feel_ shitty. I c-can’t go around _looking_ shitty too.” Reno tried to scrub it off with the cloth and sighed in exasperation when it didn’t work.

“You’re fine.”  
  
“I guess…Whatever.” He threw the cloth back into the sink with a wet slap. There was a tense, dreadful pause. “So, uh, I guess we should…” Reno pointed to the stairs.

Rude nodded dumbly. “Yeah, sure. Uh, let’s go eat.”

\--

The meal was a relatively quiet affair. It was obvious that Asako wasn’t a big talker, Faye seemed thoroughly shaken from the day’s events, and Reno was having trouble not falling asleep into his bowl of stew. Rude noticed him pushing his food around with his spoon, but he barely ate.  
  
“Drink the water at least,” he murmured.

“On it,” Reno said, draining his glass.  
  
Rude didn’t have much to say for himself either. He was still tripping over what had happened upstairs in the bathroom. His mind was scattered, catching a single line of thought was like trying to catch a wisp of wind. Had he seriously been close to...kissing Reno? Or...had Reno been close to kissing him? It was such a surreal thought that he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t imagined it.

Rude frowned. He scratched his nails against the back of his hand gently, replaying the sensation of Reno’s touch on his forearms in his mind. He shivered. He was horrified by the line he’d almost crossed and yet, simultaneously electrified by it. Like a double edged sword, he felt elation and dread, a sense of possibility and pessimism, like something perfect or something terrible had almost happened.

He sneaked a glance at Reno. He was openly trying to pick something out of his back teeth. After a moment, he got it out, examined it, then ate it again. Rude recoiled. It was a one-off thing, he told himself stringently. While he couldn’t pretend to himself that he hadn’t noticed Reno was a beautiful man on occasion (maybe many occasions), he’d never seriously considered acting on it. _Never._ Reno was his friend, and his partner. It had to have been the strong cocktail of relief, the near-death experience, the adrenaline and the physical closeness they’d been sharing recently that had impaired his judgement so erroneously.

But how could he explain away the fact that Reno seemed to have wanted something similar? Or perhaps, Rude thought with a dawning realisation, Reno had just been about to _embrace_ him. Rude almost laughed in relief. Of _course_ , that was _it_. He was really stupid, he thought, getting himself all worked up and worried thinking Reno was trying to kiss him when he’d probably just wanted to hug it out like they had yesterday. He and Reno _kissing_ , he thought, and scoffed inwardly. He really was ridiculous. Reno had never given him any kind of inclination that he was even into _men_. What was wrong with him? Why was he even thinking about any of this when Reno was battered, bruised and suffering? The last thing Reno was thinking of was sucking face with him, today or any day.

Rude sighed. He really needed to start dating people again when he got back to the city.

“We shouldn’t travel tonight.” Faye said when they were finished eating, and doing the dishes together. “It’s dark, the rain is really coming down and I rarely drive out this far. I don’t know what the roads will be like.”  
  
“They are dangerous,” Asako said reluctantly from the dining table. “You should stay tonight. I only have space inside the house for one though. But the barn out back is safe, dry and warm. I have blankets, too. It’s better than the floor in here anyway.”

“That sounds fine. We’ve slept in worse,” Rude said.

“Good. I’ll get everything you need.”

\--

While a hay-filled barn wasn’t exactly his dream accommodation, it was as Asako had promised, it was warm, dry and it kept the rain out. That was good enough for Rude, for one night at least. Asako had given them a heavy bundle of mismatched patchwork blankets, a flask of hot tea and rubber hot water bottles that were so hot they almost burned his hand. The blankets smelled stale, like they’d been in a trunk for several years, but it didn’t matter. He left an unsteady Reno leaning on the door while he set up as comfortable a sleeping area as he could for them. He rearranged a few hay bales, kicked loose some straw, lit the lantern and laid out the assortment of blankets. It would do just fine. Even if the hay did make his nose itch.

Satisfied with the makeshift bedding, he returned to help Reno limp over and sit down. Rude sat near him once he was settled. He poured them both a cup of hot tea and folded the blankets over them neatly with the hot water bottles cosy at their socked feet. Reno was quiet. Rude was sure he would pass out in five minutes, so he was grateful when he uncovered a book on the hay bale behind them. He snickered at the cover of some gasping woman with a half-undone corset. Obviously someone’s hidden guilty pleasure. He started to read, one hand behind his head, content for the time being as the rain pelted off the roof of the barn.

“R-Rude,” Reno said through chattering teeth after a while.

“Yeah?”

“I’m...feeling real shitty, m-man. I’m so c-cold.”

“Yeah, it’ll be rough for another eight hours, give or take. You should be your normal jackass self by the morning though. Drink the tea.”

Reno looked at the mug beside him balefully. “Don’t even t-think I could hold it, man.”

Rude glanced at Reno. He did look pathetic, shivering and shaking in a wooly sweater several sizes too big for him, his pale skin still covered in the angry, blotchy rash. Reno cursed as another wave of pain crashed through his abused body. Rude sympathised. He’d been there. Not quite as severe as Reno’s case as he wasn’t allergic, but being Beast poisoned by itself was brutal, especially when treatment was delayed. His partner was a far cry from his usual slick, smug self.  
  
“Just sleep then, you’ll feel better when you wake up.”

Rude tried to get back into his book, but to no avail. Apparently Reno couldn’t get warm or comfortable no matter what he tried. Rude watched from the corner of his eye as he shifted this way and that, his teeth chattering and the blankets shaking along with his shivering. He jerked with an aftershock so dramatically that he knocked over his cup of tea. Swearing loudly, he grabbed bundles of straw to mop it up. Then he sat back and started the whole thing all over again. Rude had read the same line about fifteen times when he lost patience.

“Hey. C’mere, idiot,” he sighed and shuffled closer to sit flush alongside him. “Don’t want to listen to your whining all night.”

He wrapped their bundle of loaned blankets around them both, tucking the corners around and underneath Reno. Finally, he wound his left arm around him and pulled him in close to his chest for added warmth. Unexpectedly, Reno fell against him easily, either too weak or too tired to protest. He must’ve really felt poorly, Rude figured. Reno wouldn’t normally let himself look so vulnerable. Rude didn’t dare say anything else about it, there was nothing he could say that wouldn’t sound weird as all hell. He just picked up his book again and hoped Reno would finally be able to get some rest.

“This is real gay,” Reno eventually mumbled into his chest, though he made no movement to pull away.

Rude rolled his eyes. “Nah, it’s not. Nothing _gay_ about keeping your partner alive if they’re sick and cold. Besides…”

“Besides…?”

“It’s only gay if the balls touch.”

Reno cackled softly until he snorted into Rude’s chest. Rude couldn’t stop the smile pulling at his lips as the vibrations of it traveled through his body. Rude kept his left arm snug around him, and used his right to keep reading. Every now and again Reno would jolt himself awake as if he felt guilty for dozing off.

“Hey, Rude?” Reno said dazedly after a while.

“Hm?”

“You...don’t mind if I sleep like this, do you? I can’t keep my eyes open, man.”

“Nope. Go to sleep, dumbass.”

“Thanks, man. Beers on me next time.”

Whatever tension Reno was holding onto finally dissipated and he relaxed completely against Rude as he let himself sleep. It wasn’t long before he started to snore into Rude’s neck. Rude shifted a little so they were both lying at less of an upwards angle on the hay. It was surprisingly comfortable. Although he could feel Reno’s drool soaking through his sweater. Disgusting, he thought, but he smiled anyway. He didn’t really mind, he was just pleased Reno was still alive. Reno and himself both got into a lot of dangerous situations, but it never got easier. No matter how many times death came knocking on their doors. Rude never forgot each time he’d seen Reno dying in front of him. It was difficult caring about someone who was always in danger. But then again, that was the very reason why every one of his own relationships had failed.

As he continued reading, he checked Reno’s pulse on his throat absent-mindedly. He only caught himself doing it when he noticed that it was still a little slow. After the meal and some rest, he felt well enough to cast a light curing spell. Reno was dead asleep so he knew he wouldn’t disturb him. As he felt the magic drift from his fingertips, Reno trembled and moaned. It _wasn’t_ a pained sound. Rude blushed to his ears. The spell tapered off, and Reno sighed in his sleep, his fingers clenched in Rude’s shirt.

Rude put the book down. Reno had never reacted like that when he’d cast spells on him before. He was always pointedly stoic. He shook his head. He didn't have the mental energy to unpack it. Today had been confusing enough as it was. He shifted a little, closed his eyes and let himself fall asleep with Reno in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mwahaha! With one hand she giveth and with the other she taketh away! Quite a few teases in there, I am sorry! I also hope you'll forgive the 'snuggling for warmth' trope. I love it and I don't care how BASIC a writer it makes me for using it. I actually wrote the barn scene before I wrote the bathroom scene so I had such a hard time going back and forth to make sure they worked tonally and contextually giving what had *almost* happened in the bathroom. It's a good thing Rude is a big dumb man. I also try to use American lingo wherever I can when I write (wiper blades lol) but I was devastated to discover that Americans don't have hot water bottles? Genuinely, you are missing out. 
> 
> Oh my goodness, but that was a long one! 4.5k words. I bet you can see now why I've broken these last two chapters in half. The next chapter might also be from Rude's POV as I had more to add to this situation, but I'll see what I can do with it. Also the next chapter may take a little longer as this one was pretty much written already when I published Ch6 but for Ch8 it's a almost a blank slate at the moment.
> 
> What did you think? I do SO appreciate your comments, thoughts and feedback so please don't hesitate to leave a comment no matter how small or silly because they really do make my day and give me so much encouragement and inspiration. 💜


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